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BEES AND HONEY 



iFI RST^ LESSONS' 
SfJN BEE-H. KEEPING^ 

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NEWMAN 



DADANT 




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Established in 1861. Oldest Bee-Paper in America. 

American Bee Journal 

The American Bee Journal is not only the oldest bee-paper in America, but 
the largest monthly. Those who write for it are among the mose extensive and 
best bee-keepers in .all the world. Many of them produce honey by the ton and 
make money at the business. Hence their experiences are valuable. The fol- 
lowing are the principal Departments : 

Editorial Notes and Comments — This department contains brief items on 
a "variety of subjects, among them being extracts from other bee-publications, 
with comments thereon. Dr. C. C. Miller, of Marengo, 111., is the Associate 
Editor, and contributes to this department from month to month. 

Miscellaneous News Items — This, as its name indicates, has a collection 
of newsy and interesting items taken from various sources. It is really an 
Editorial Department. 

Bee-Keeping for Women — Miss Emma M. Wilson, of Marengo, 111., has 
charge of this Department. She has had many years of successful experience 
with bees, having been during her bee-keeping life associated with Dr. C. C. 
Miller, and is his chief assistant. There are many women bee-keepers, and 
from time to time a number of them contribute to this Department. 

Canadian Beedom — Mr. J. L. Byer, of Mt. Joy, Ont., conducts this Depart- 
ment. Mr. Byer is one of the leading bee-keepers of Canada, and is a most 
interesting and helpful writer. His crop in 1909 was over 30,000 pounds of 
extracted honey. 

Southern Beedom — Louis H. Scholl, of New Braunfels, Texas, is in charge 
of this Department. He is one of the most extensive bee-keepers in all the 
South. His chief line is production of bulk honey, which is growing in popu- 
larity in his part of the country. He has upward of 20 apiaries scattered in 
different places, and his annual crop runs from 30,000 to 50,000 pounds. 

Contributed Articles — This Department contains contributions from the 
leading bee-keepers of the world. They discuss in articles of fair length some 
of the most important topics related to beedom. Among those who have written 
for years for this Department are G. M. Doolittle, F. and G. C. Greiner, C. P. 
Dadant, R. C. Aikin, and "others too numerous to mention." 

Dr. Miller's Question-Box — Dr. C. C. Miller, of Marengo, 111., has had 50 
years' experience with bees, and answers practically all the questions on bee- 
keeping that are sent in for reply. There is not another place in the bee- 
keeping world where so many questions are answered as in his Department in 
the American Bee Journal. And there is no one anywhere who is better pre- 
pared to answer the variety of questions that arise among bee-keepers every- 
where, than is Dr. Miller. This Department, especially to the beginner, is 
worth many dollars every year. 

Reports and Experiences — This is a Department containing brief reports 
from all over the field of bee-keeping, and the experiences that are often told 
are very interesting. 

Honey and Beeswax — The honey and beeswax market is quoted from most 
of the principal cities of the United States. The aim is to have only those who 
are reliable, and who are large handlers of honey, to quote the market on honey 
and beeswax. 

There are other occasional departments, all of which make a very com- 
plete bee-paper. Every bee-keeper, whether he or she has one colony or sev- 
eral hundred, should read the American Bee Journal every month. The sub- 
scription price is $1.00 a year, including a free copy of this book, "First Lessons 
in Bee-Keeping." Sample copy free. Ask for it. Address, 

American Bee Journal, 117 North Jefferson Street, Chicago 111. 



BEES AND HONEY 
or 

First Lessons 
in Bee-Keeping 



By Thomas G. Newman 
Revised by C. P. Dadant 



TWENTIETH THOUSAND 



Copyrighted 1911 by George W. York & Co 
All Rights Reserved. 



Chicago, Illinois 
The American Bee Journal 

1911 



Author's Preface to Former Edition 

It is now generally admitted that to become a profitable 
pursuit, bee-keeping must be conducted on scientific principles. 
The old management (or rather mis-management), permitting the 
bees to use log-gums, hollow trees, or old boxes for hives, can no 
longer be tolerated. 

To induce the practise of scientific management of the apiary 
is the sole object of publishing this Book, and to that end we give 




THOMAS G. NEWMAN 

Author of " Bees and Honey," and Late Editor of the " American Bee 
Journal " for Nearly Twenty Years. 



our own views and experiences, and also quote from those who 
practise with success the plans and manipulations recommended. 

Being desirous of having this Work " fully up with the times," 
including all the various improvements and inventions in this 
rapidly increasing pursuit, we have> made a thorough revision of 
this edition in order to presenfc*tli§ apiarist with everything that 
may aid in the successful management of the Honey-Bee, and at 
the same time to produce the most honey, in its best and most 

ATTRACTIVE CONDITION. . y 

Thomas G. Newman. 
Chicago, Illinois. 

©CI.A297740 



VK. 



& 



Index to Subjects 




Adulteration of honey 176 

Ancient history of honey .... 157 
Appendix 157 

Artificial increase 62 

Author's Preface 3 

ee-diarrhea 138 

ee-keeping as a science .... 23 

Bee-moth 130 

Bee-Pasturage a Necessity 99 

Bees profitable in the orchard 32 

Brood 18 

Buying "swarms of bees" .... 30 

Care of honey 175 

Cellar-wintering 78 

Clipping the queen's wing ... 76 

Colony of bees 10 

Comb and extracted honey... 175 
Comb Foundation and Its Use 89 
Comb-honey management .... 141 
Different kinds and flavors... 175 
Diseases of bees and treat- 
ment 133 

Dividing colonies 64 

Drone-bee 14 

Economy to use honey 173 

Effect of bee and honey shows 154 

Enemies of Bees 130 

Establishing an Apiary 23 

Extracted-honey Management. 144 

Fastening comb foundation. . . 96 

Feeding Bees 82 

Foul brood — American 133 

Foul brood — European, or 

black 136 

General values and importance 

of honey 185 

Give children honey 174 

Grading and assorting honey. 141 
Granulated honey — to relique- 

f y • 176 

Handling and Quieting Bees 84 

Hive-tool necessary 86 

Hives and Honey Receptacles 34 

Hiving swarms 00 

Honey and Bee Exhibits 151 
Honey as a commercial pro- 
duct 149 

Honey as an article of food. . 17.1 
Honey as a remedy for ail- 
ments 164 

Honey as a wholesome food. . 172 
Honey best to sweeten hot 

drinks 174 

Honey-extractor and its use. . 51 
Honey harvest 48 



Honey in the comb 40 

Honey must be ripe 148 

Honey nature, quality, and 

sources 161 

Honey-plants for decorative 

purposes 118 

Honey the most delicious 

sauce 173 

Honey-vinegar 184 

How many colonies to begin 

with 28 

How should honey be market- 
ed? 139 

How to extract 56 

Improvement in Honey-Bees 68 

Introducing a queen 71 

Introduction 8 

Italian bees 10, 70 

Italianizing an apiary 71 

Keeping an apiary register ... 88 

Langstroth hive 35 

Loss of the queen 66 

Marketing and Care of Honey 139 

May disease 137 

McEvoy treatment of foul 

brood 133 

Moving bees 28 

Natural History of the 

Honey-Bee 9 

Nature of Honey 161 

Nuclei 62 

Observation Hives 128 

Outdoor wintering 80 

Pails (tin) for honey 147 

Pickled brood 137 

Plain section-boxes 41 

Plants for field and roadside. . 104 
Plants for honey exclusively.. 114 
Prescriptions calling for 

honey 166 

Preserve the wax 97 

Production of Choice Honey 40 
Propolis — removing from 

hands 33 

Quality of honey 162 

Queen-bee 11 

Queen-rearing 62 

Races of bees 10 

- Recipe9 'calling for honey.... 176 
Removing bees from combs. . . 76 
Rendering combs into bees- 
wax 97 

Removing honey from the 

super 43 

Reviser's Preface 5 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



Robber-bees 57 

Separators — cleated 41 

Shipping and handling honey. 143 
Shipping-cases for honey .... 44 
Shipping comb-honey to mar- 
ket 45 

Sources of honey 163 

Standard frame — adopt a 87 

Suitable Location for Bees 25 

Supers for holding section- 
boxes 4 3 

Swarming and Queen-Rearing. 59 
Swarms — natural 59 

Transferring and Uniting Bees 73 



Trees for shade and honey... 101 

Uniting weak colonies 76 

Wax and comb production ... 18 

Weak colonies — help 32 

What hive to use 35 

What kind of bees to get .... 30 
When to use the honey-ex- 
tractor 54 

Where to keep honey 175 

Who should keep bees 24. 

Will bees injure fruit? 31 

Wintering and Feeding Bees 78 

Wintering bees in clamps .... 80 

Worker-bee 15 



Index to Illustrations 



Alexander Feeder 83 

Alfalfa or Lucerne 112 

Alsike Clover 109, no 

Anterior leg of worker 18 

Apiary of M. M. Baldridge ... 88 

Apiary well sheltered 27 

Arrangement for relequifying 

honey 150 

Bases and cross-section of cells 90 

Basswood or linden 100 

Bee and Honey exhibit at 

Oklahoma Fair 151 

Bee-escape — Porter 49 

Bee-feeder — division-board ... 82 

Bee-house in Germany 129 

Bee-smoker 85 

Bee-tent 153 

Bee-veil . . , 86 

Brood-comb destroyed by moths 130 

Brood-Frame disected 39 

Buckwheat 113, 114 

Cage for mailing queen-bees . . 72 

Column for drive-way or lawn. 119 

Cleome 115 

Comb foundation 91 

Comb foundation drawn out 

into comb 94 

Comb foundation mill 92 

Corner of building for exhibit- 
ing bees 152, 153 

Corrugated-papershipping-case 142 
Crate for snipping honey in 

cases 46 

Cross-section of sheet of comb 

foundation 93. 

Cutting combs to fit a frame. . . 74 

Cutting down a bee-tree 73' 

Dadant, Chas 89 

Dadant, C. P 4 

Dadant Tri-State hive 37 

Doolittle, G. M 63 



Dovetailed or lock-cornered 

hive 37 

Drone-bee 3, 14 

Eggs and brood 18 

Encalyptus trees of California. 127 
Extracted-honey apiary in Cali- 
fornia 56 

Fence or cleated separator ... 41 

Figwort 126 

Floral lawn 120 

Floral window 122 

Fox-glove 121 

Foul Brood (American) 134 

Frame of brood, queen-cells, 

etc 21 

France, N. E 135 

Fruit-blossoms ready for bees. 33 

Gentle Italians 71 

Getting comb honey ready for 

market 141 

Glass honey-jars 148 

Goldenrod 123 

Head of drone 15 

Head of queen n 

Head of worker 17 

Hershiser wax-press 98 

Hive-body with plain hanging 

frames 38 

Hives shaded with roofs 28 

Hives under snow 80 

Hiving the swarm 71 

Hoffman-Langstroth brood- 
frame 38 

Hoffman, Miss Hettie E 25 

Holding brood-comb to detect 

. '< foul brood 136 

*Honey and vegetable wagon . . 140 
Honey-comb, showing three 

kinds of cells 95 

Honey-evaporator 149 

Honey-extractor 51 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



Honey-extractor ("Baby") for 
extracting sections of hon- 

TT e y • 55 

Honey-extractor fastened for 

extracting 147 

Honey-locust limb, pod and 

seed 103 

Honey-locust tree 99 

Honey-wagon used in Chicago. 143 

Ideal hive-tool 87 

Italian queen 70 

Langstroth, Rev. L. L 36 

Lincoln Monument in beeswax 132 

Marigolds 125 

Mignonette (mammoth) ..116, 123 

Milkweed 106 

Miller, Dr. C. C 8 

Miller Feeder 83 

Miller queen-introducing cage. ^2 

Mint ' 126 

Motherwort 117 

Natural swarming — cutting 

down the swarm 58 

Newman, Thomas G ,2 

New York State honey exhibit 
at Columbian Exposition in 

1893 154 

Oblong and square sections of 

honey 40 

Observation hive inside of win- 
dow 128 

One-piece honey-section 41 

Original Langstroth hive 35 

Ovaries of drone-laying work- 
er bee 67 

Ovaries of queen 12 

Pailful of sweetest "honey" . . 174 

Parker foundation fastener ... 96 
Part of field of white clover in 

Iowa in 

Plain division-board 62 

Posterior legs of worker 17 

Queen-bee 3, 11 

Queen-cells on a bit of comb. . 60 

Queen-excluders 48 

Queen-registering slate 66 

Quinby, M 34 

Rape 125 



Respiratory organs of the hon- 
ey-bee 29 

Reversible honey-extractor ... 53 

Roof-apiary in Chicago 26 

Row of basswood trees 101 

Shallow super and frames for 

extracting honey 47 

Shipping-cases 45 

Sourwood , 124 

Square tin cans for shipping 

honey 149 

Stingless bees of Central 

America 98 

Sting of bee — sectional view . . 84 

Successful Michigan apiary ... 6 

Super and section-holders 42 

Super with plain sections and 

fences 43 

Swarm-box 61 

Swarm-sack yy 

Sweet clover 104, 107 

"Talking Bees"— They're just.. 156 

Tall-growing sweet clover .... 105 

Tin pails for honey 167 

Tongue of honey-bee 69 

Transferred comb— appearance 

of 75 

Tulip or poplar 102 

Two-story hive for extracted 

honey 46 

Uncapping honey-combs for ex- 
tracting ■. 145 

Uncapping-knife 54 * 

Von Hruschka, Major 52 

Wax-extractor 97 

Wax in segments of worker ... 19 

Web of moth-larvae 131 

Well-sealed honey in sections.. 44 
Well-sealed honey in shallow 

frames 47 

Whisk-broom to brush bees ... Tf 

White clover ill 

Willow 125 

Wilson, Miss Emma M 24 

Winter-case 81 

Wire imbedder 96 

Worker-bee 3, 16 

York, George W 187 



Engravings for Sale. — We have quite a large stock of engravings 
of bee-yards and other pictures relating to bee-keeping that we have used from 
time to time in the American Bee Journal, and also the ones in this book. No 
doubt many of them could be used again by bee-keepers in their local news- 
papers, on their letter-heads, on souvenir cards, or in other profitable or inter- 
esting ways. By selling the ones we have it will help us to pay for others that 
we are constantly having made and using. We do not have a catalog or 
printed list of the engravings, but if you will let us know just what you want. 
as shown in this book or in the American Bee Journal, we will be pleased to quote 
you a low price, postpaid. Make your selections, and then write to us. 



The Preface of the Reviser 

This short treatise for beginners was originally written and 
published by Mr. Thomas G. Newman, then editor of the American 
Bee Journal, at Chicago — the oldest bee-publication in America. 
Mr. Newman died in 1903. The present editor, Mr. George W. 
York, has requested me to revise the book, and bring it up to the 
modern state of the pursuit of bee-culture. 

Progress is prompt, in bee-culture as in other things. There 
are perhaps more changes in bee-culture than in most other 




C. P. DADANT 

Reviser of "Bees and Honey; or First Lessons in Bee-Keeping." 

agricultural branches, because the discoveries of the wonders of 
the bee-hive are relatively modern. Those who have read previous 
editions may not recognize the book in its new form. But I have 
nevertheless tried to preserve as many as possible of Mr. Newman's 
flowery descriptions, in which he excelled. I have also retained 
such of his methods as I consider safe and practicable. In short, 
I have tried to produce a book suitable for beginners, giving the 
most simple methods available in our day. C. P. Dadant. 

Hamilton, Illinois, September /, 1911. 



Introduction 



It -has been computed that in our World, the different 
species of living animals number over a quarter of a million. 
Among this vast concourse of life, we find much food for 
thought and meditation, but for instructive lessons none can 
rival the marvelous transformations that insect life under- 
goes in its process of development! 

The repulsive maggot of today may tomorrow be the 
active little fly, visiting leaf and flower, in merry and sportive 
mood! The repugnant caterpillar of to-day, may to-morrow 
be decked with green and gold, through its speedy transforma- 
tion to the butterfly, of brilliant tints and gorgeous beauty. 

This is not a whit more wonderful than are the transforma- 
tions from the egg to the tiny larva, from the larva to the pupa, 
and from the pupa to the fully developed honey-bee, with its 
wondrous instincts and marvelous habits! The student never 
ceases to wonder and admire, as he turns over leaf after leaf 
of "the book of Nature," devoted to this interesting insect. 
Indeed, there is a fascination about the apiary that is truly 
indescribable; but even that richly rewards the apiarist for all 
the time and labor bestowed upon it. Every scientific bee- 
keeper is an enthusiast. The wonderful economy of the bee- 
hive, from its very nature, presents to the thoughtful student, 
both admiration and delight at every step! 

A single bee, with all its industry, energy, and the innu- 
merable journeys it performs, may collect only about a tea- 
spoonful of honey during one season — and yet more than one 
hundred pounds of honey is often taken from one hive! 

Does not the contemplation of this fact teach us a profit- 
able lesson of what great results may arise from persevering 
and associated labor? 

In fructifying the flowers, too, bees present us with a field 
of study. Many plants absolutely require the visits of bees 
or other insects to remove their pollen-masses, and thus ferti- 
lize them. Hence, Darwin wisely remarks, when speaking of 
clover and heartsease: "No bees, no seed; no seed, no increase 
of the flower; the more visits from the bees, the more seeds 



8 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



from the flower; the more seeds from the flowers, the more 
flowers from the seeds." Darwin mentions the following ex- 
periment: "Twenty heads of white clover, visited by bees, 
produced 2,290 seeds; while twenty heads, so protected that 
bees could not visit them, produced not one seed." 

Thus is infinite wisdom displayed by Nature on every hand! 
Nothing is created in vain; each has its proper sphere, and 
each its appropriate work to perform. We admire "the grand 
harmony of design," and in meditative surprise we are soon 

" Lost in wonder, love, and praise." 




DR. C. C. MILLER 
Author of " Fifty Years Among the Bees," and Best-Known Bee-Keeper. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



Natural History 

of the Honey-Bee 

Every apiarist should be well informed, not only on the 
habits, but also on the Natural History of the honey-bee. 

While honey was "from the beginning" among the first 
of sweet things, and the sweetest of first things, given by the 
Creator to man — sugar is, separated from its source and pre- 
pared for use by the hand of man, but of modern birth! For 
thousands of years honey was man's only sweet; and source 
of nourishment — but only for a short time has sugar had its 
partial sway, and that alone in modern times. It is recorded 
that the land where Abraham dwelt — 'Canaan — was one "flow- 
ing with milk and honey;" and when the old Patriarch, be- 
cause of the famine that prevailed there, sent his sons to Egypt 
to buy corn, he sent as a present to the Egyptian ruler some 
of Canaan's famous honey. — Gen. 43: 11. 

We may well conclude that Canaan's famous honey was 
then as famous as in subsequent ages was the honey from 
Mount Hymettus, in Greece. 

The earliest mention of honey as an article of commerce, 
is, that the Jews were engaged in trading it at Tyre, that old 
and honored mart of trade in Phoenicia. — Ezek. 27: 17. 

Sirach, who lived, about the time of the rebuilding of tTie 
Temple at Jerusalem, speaking of the necessaries of life, men- 
tions honey, with flour and milk. 

The Persians, Grecians and Romans, used honey quite ex- 
tensively as an article of diet; they also used it largely in pre- 
paring their food, and by it most of their beverages were 
sweetened. 

Ancient Sages, among whom were Homer, Herodotus, 
Cato, Aristotle, Varro, Virgil, Pliny and Columella, composed 
poems extolling the activity, skill and economy of bees, and 
in more modern times, among such authors have been Swam- 
merdam, a German naturalist; Maraldi, an Italian mathema- 



IO BEES AND HONEY; OR 

tician; Schirach, a Saxon priest; Reaumur, inventor of a 
thermometer; Bonnet, a Swiss entomologist; Dr. John Hunter; 
and Francis Huber, who, though totally blind, was noted for his 
many minute observations, by the aid of his assistant, Burnens, 
which caused quite a revolution in ancient theories concern- 
ing honey-bees. He was also assisted by Mdle. Jurine, who, 
by delicate microscopic examinations, rendered important ser- 
vice not only to Huber, but also to future generations. Nearer 
to our day, we may mention as the leaders of modern practical 
apiculture: Dzierzon, Von Berlepsch, Leuckart, Von Siebold, 
John Lubbock, L. L. Langstroth, Samuel Wagner, M. Quinby, 
Adam Grimm, J. S. Harbison, Capt. J. E. Hetherington, Prof. 
A. J. Cook, G. M. Doolittle, Dr. C. C. Miller, A. I. Root and 
his sons, Chas. Dadant, E. W. Alexander, Thos. Wm. Cowan, 
Frank R. Cheshire, and a host of others. 

The Races of Bees 

Of the different races of the honey-bee, the common ot 
black bee is the most numerous, though it is not older than the 
Italians, which were known to the ancients several hundred 
years before the Christian era, and are mentioned by Aristotle 
and Virgil. The Egyptian, Carniolan, Cyprian, Caucasian, and 
others, have also been tried. But the Italian is the favorite in 
the United States, because of its activity, docility, prolificness 
and captivating beauty. 

Italian Bees 

Pure Italian bees are recognized by the three yellow rings 
on the first three segments of the abdomen, next to the thorax 
or middle portion of the body. They are also singularized by 
their quiet behavior on the combs when the hive is opened. 
If the bees are properly handled none of the Italians will rush 
about the combs or fall off while in the hands of the apiarist. 

A Colony of Bees 

In its usual working condition, a colony of bees presents 
a scene of the most lively interest. It contains a fertile queen, 
many thousands of workers (more or less numerous according 
to the season of the year), and in the busy season from several 
hundred to a few thousand drones. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



II 



The Queen 

The mother-bee, as «he is often called, is the only perfect 
female in the colony, and is the true mother of it. Her only 
duty is to lay the eggs for the propagation of the species. 
She is a little larger around than the worker, but not so large 
as the drone. Her body is longer than that of the worker, but 




Fig. i— The Queen-Bee (enlarged.) 

her wings are proportionately shorter. Her abdomen tapers 
to a point. She has a sting, but it is curved, and she uses ic 
only upon royalty; that is to say, to fight or destroy other 
queens — her rivals. 

The queen usually leaves the hive only when accompanying 
a swarm. However, she takes a flight when about five or six 









Fig. 2— Head of Queen (magnified.) 



days old, to mate with a drone, upon the wing. Once fertilized, 
she is so for life, though she often lives three or four years. 
On her return to the hive, after mating, if she has been fecun- 
dated, the male organs may be seen attached to her abdomen. 



12 BEES AND HONEY; OR 

In about two days after thus mating, she will commence to lay 
eggs, and she is capable, if prolific, of laying three thousand or 
more eggs per day. These are regularly deposited by her in the 
cells, within the breeding apartment or body of the hive. 
When a queen lays eggs in the super or honey receptacle, 
which is usually provided over the hive-body, it is a sign that 
the hive is full. Small hives are objectionable because their 
limited space often causes the queen to desert the breeding 
apartment and induce swarming. 

Instinct teaches the workers the necessity of having a 
Queen that is prolific, and should she become barren from any 




Fig. 3— Ovaries of the Queen (magnified.) 

cause, or be lost, they immediately prepare to rear another to 
take her place. This they do by building queen-cells, and if, 
when these are about one-half completed, the Queen has not 
deposited eggs in any of them, they take eggs from worker- 
cells and supply them. By feeding the embryo queen with 
royal jelly, the egg that would have produced a worker, had it 
remained in a worker-cell, becomes a queen. 

The name "royal jelly" is probably a misnomer, though 
used by most authors. It seems evident that the royal jelly is 
the same food which is given to the larva of the worker-bee 
during the first three days of its existence, but at the end of that 
time it is changed, for the worker, to a coarser food or pap, 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING I3 

while the same jelly in plentiful supply is given to the queen- 
larva during the entire time of its growth. 

The ovaries of the queen, occupying a large portion of the 
abdomen, will be found to be two pear-shaped bodies, com- 
posed of 160 to 180 minute tubes, the tubes being bound to- 
gether by enveloping air-vessels. These are the ovaries, of 
which a highly magnified view is here given. The germs of the 
eggs originate in the upper ends of the tubes which compose 
the ovary, and the eggs develop in their onward passage, so 
that at the time of the busy laying season, each one of the 
tubes will contain, at its lower end, one or more mature eggs, 
with several others in a less developed state following them. 
These tubes terminate on each side in the oviduct, through 
which the egg passes into the vagina; in the cut, an egg will 
be seen in the oviduct, on the right. (Fig. 3). A globular sac 
will be noted, attached to the main oviduct by a short, tubular 
stem. 

A French naturalist, M. Audouin, first discovered the true 
character of this sac as the spermatheca, which contains the 
male semen; and Prof. Leuckart computes its size as sufficient 
to contain, probably, twenty-five millions of seminal filaments. 
It seems hardly possible that so large a number should ever be 
found in the spermatheca, as it would require nearly twenty 
years to exhaust the supply, if the queen should lay daily 2000 
eggs, 365 days in the year, and each egg be impregnated. Each 
egg which receives one or more of the seminal filaments 
in passing, will produce a worker or queen, while an unimpreg- 
nated egg will produce only a drone. The spermatheca of an 
unfecundated queen contains only a transparent liquid with 
no seminal filaments, and the eggs of such a queen produce 
only drones. 

This ability of a queen to lay eggs which hatch into drones, 
without fertilization, belongs only to a few female insects and 
is called "parthenogenesis." This was discovered in queen- 
bees by Dzierzon. Whether the queen has been for some cause 
unable to meet a drone or to fly in search of one, or whether 
the drone's organs were sterile, or their supply exhausted, or 
whether yet she has been rendered infertile by refrigeration, 
in any of these cases a queen may lay eggs that hatch only as 
drones. Such a queen is, of course, worthless, and should be 
superseded by the apiarist. 

The queen usually lays from February to October, but very 
early in the spring she lays sparingly. When fruit and flowers 



14 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



bloom, and the bees are getting honey and pollen, she lays more 
rapidly. 

The Drones 

These are non-producers, and live on the toil and industry 
of others. They are the males, and have no sting — neither 
have they any means of gathering honey or secreting wax, or 
doing any work that is even necessary to their own support, 
or the common good of the colony. 

The drones are shorter, thicker and more bulky than the 
queen, and their wings reach the entire length of their body. 




Fig. 4— The Drone-Bee (magnified.) 

They are much larger and clumsier than the workers, and, like 
the queen and workers, are covered with short but fine hair. 
Their buzzing when on the wing is much louder and differs from 
that of the others. Their only use is to serve the queen when 
on her "bridal trip." 

Not more than one in a thousand is ever privileged to per- 
form that duty, but as the queen's life is very valuable, and the 
dangers surrounding her flight are numerous, it is necessary 
to have a sufficient number of them, in order that her absence 
from the hive may not be protracted. After mating, she re- 
turns to the hive a fertile queen for life. 

The drone in the act of copulation loses his life, dying 
instantly. At the approach of the swarming season the drones 
are reared to fertilize the young queens; after that is accom- 
plished, or should the season prove unfavorable and the honey 
crop short, they are mercilessly destroyed by the workers. 

Should a colony lose its queen, the drones will be retained 
later; instinct teaching them that without the drone, the young 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 15 

queen would remain unfertile, and the colony soon become ex- 
tinct. 

When comparing the head of the drone (Fig. 5), with those 
of the queen and the worker (Figs. 2 and 7), one readily 
notices the compound eyes, those crescent-shaped projections 
on each side of the head. They are much larger in the drone 
than in either of the others, and this is ascribed by scientists 




Fig. 5— Head of Drone (magnified.) 

to the necessity of finding the queen in the air, on the wing. 
The facets composing these eyes number some 25,000 in the 
head of the drone, so that they can see in all directions. The 
three small points in a triangle at the top of the head are 
small eyes or ocelli, which are probably used to see in the dark, 
within the hive, and at short range. 

The Workers 

These are undeveloped females, and they do all the work 
that is done in the hive. They secrete the wax, build the comb, 
gather the pollen for the young, and honey for all, feed and rear 
the brood, and fight all the battles necessary to defend the 
colony. 

Of the three kinds of bees these are the smallest, but con- 
stitute the great mass of the population. They possess the whole 
ruling power of the colony and regulate its economy. 

The workers are provided with a honey-sac, which is their 
first stomach; there is a small cavity on their posterior legs, 
(Fig. 8AA) in which they store the pollen of flowers in very 
small lumps, being the most convenient form in which to carry 
it home. They are also provided with a sting, which they use 
only for defense. 



i6 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



They gather honey, which is a secretion in many flowers, 
and pollen, which is the fecundating dust from the stamens 
of flowers, and which they use in feeding the larvae. Pollen — 
which is also called bee-bread — is rich in nitrogenous sub- 
stances which are not found in honey. It is an error to believe 
that it is used in the production of wax in any other manner 
than as food during the process. Although pollen is consumed 
by working bees during the period of activity, it is unnecessary 
and injurious to them during the winter. At that time pure 
honey is best, as it produces the least amount of fecal matter 
in their abdomen. 

The bees also gather propolis or bee-glue which is col- 
lected, like pollen, from resinous buds, and is used for fasten- 




Fig. 6— The Worker-Bee (greatly magnified.) 



ing combs, coating uneven surfaces, and filling up cracks within 
the hive. They also sometimes use it in hermetically sealing 
up any offensive matter that may be too burdensome for them 
to remove from their hives. 

Many persons entertain the idea that the worker-bees live 
many years. Their conclusion is drawn from the fact that 
colonies inhabit the same hive for a long period; but the natural 
life of the worker-bee does not exceed six months during the 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



17 



winter when they are not exposed to fatigue, and not over forty- 
days, on the average, during the height of the honey season. 




Fig. 7— Head of Worker (magnified) 

Those reared in the fall, having little out-door work to perform, 
will live till the spring. None of them die of old age, but the 




Fig. 8— Posterior Legs of Worker (magnified.) A A Pollen-Baskets. 



majority work themselves to death, and many are killed through 
other causes. 



i8 



BEES AND HONEY*, OR 




Fig. o— Anterior Leg: of Worker (magnified.) 

Brood 

The egg is laid by the queen in the bottom 'of the cell; in 
uhree days it hatches into a small, white worm, called "larva," 
which, being fed by the bees, increases rapidly in size; when this 
larva nearly fills the cell, it is closed up by the bees. 

The worker develops from the egg in 21 days; gathering 
honey from about 16 days after emerging from the cell. The 
drone hatches in 24 days, and if the weather is propitious he 
will "fly" in a few days after. The queen matures in 16 days, 
and is able to fly in a few hours after emerging from the cell. 





Fig. 10— Eggs and Larva (magnified.) 



Until the 17th day the workers seem only to be fit for the 
work of the hive. Before that age they seldom leave the 
hive — their labors being confined to the building of the comb, 
nursing the brood, feeding the larvse, capping brood and honey 
cells, etc. 

Production of Wax and Comb 

This subject is an intensely interesting study. Before the 
time of Huber it was generally supposed that wax was made 
from pollen; but Huber fully demonstrated that bees could 
construct comb from honey, without the aid of pollen. But 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING IO, 

oxygen being the support of animal heat, it is essential to bees 
while building comb, because an extraordinary amount of heat 
must be generated, to enable them to soften the wax and mould 
it into such delicate forms. 

We herewith present a cut of the under surface of the bee, 
showing the wax-formation between the segments (Fig. n). 

Dr. Donhofr" states that in new comb the thickness of the 
sides of the cells is but the 180th part of an inch! .Such delicate 
work is hardly conceivable; and yet, bees make it in the dark, 
or in the night — appearing never to rest. 

Prof. Duncan, professor of Geology in King's College, Lon- 
don, in his work on the "Transformation of Insects," remarks 
as follows on this interesting subject: 

"The production of wax is one of the most remarkable 
physiological phenomena of the organization of these Hymenop- 
tera. It was generally thought, formerly, that the bees dis- 




Fig. ii— Under Surface of Worker, showing Wax in Segments (magnified.) 

gorged their wax from the mouth, and Reaumur certainly held 
this opinion; but John Hunter discovered the manner in which 
the wax was formed; and it is now evident that the bees carry 
within themselves this important building-material. The seg- 
ments of the abdomen of bees overlap from before backwards, 
but when the margin of one is lifted up, two broad and smooth 
surfaces will be noticed on the uncovered surface of the next 
ring; these surfaces contain during one part of the year two 
thin, white, and almost transparent laminse, which are com- 
posed of wax. The wax is really secreted by some small glands 
which are within the abdomen, and it transludes through the 
soft and smooth integument between the rings or segments." 

A writer in Scribner's Monthly thus describes the manner 
of comb-building in a new swarm: 

"When a swarm of bees is about to leave its old home and 



20 BEES AND HONEY; OR 

seek another, each bee fills itself with honey. After entering 
thetir new home, the gorged bees suspend themselves in fes- 
toons, hanging from the top of the hive. They hang motionless 
for about 24 hours. During this time the honey has been di- 
gested and converted into a peculiar animal oil, which collects 
itself in scales or laminae beneath the abdominal rings. This is 
the wax." 

I^angstroth remarks as follows on this subject: 

"It is an interesting fact, which seems hitherto to have 
escaped notice, that honey-gathering and comb-building go on 
simultaneously; so that when one stops, the other ceases also. 
As soon as the honey-harvest begins to fail, so that consump- 
tion is in advance of production, the bees cease to build new 
comb, even although large portions of their hives are unfilled. 
When honey no longer abounds in the fields, it is wisely or- 
dered that they should not consume, in comb-building, the 
treasures which may be needed for winter use. What safer rule 
could have been given them?" 

The explanation of this fact by natural causes is very easy, 
and demonstrates the fitness of Nature to all cases. The pro- 
duction of wax is involuntary in the bee, whenever it is com- 
pelled to remain a long time with a stomach full of honey. Its 
production, which is imperceptibly small in ordinary circum- 
stances, increases rapidly as soon as conditions demand it. As 
long as there are plenty of empty cells in the hive to receive 
the crop, the bees are not compelled to retain honey constantly 
in their stomachs, and there is only enough wax produced to 
repair or elongate the cells and seal them. But as soon as the 
want of room compels many of the bees to remain filled with 
honey for* twenty-four hours or more, a sufficient amount of 
scales of wax is produced to build combs to store the surplus 
honey. 

The cells, hexagonal in shape, are built on both sides of a 
midrib or base, and their adjustment, made in the most eco- 
nomical way that Nature could devise, is such that the base of 
each cell, composed of three lozenges, makes the one-third of 
the base of three opposite cells. The greatest economy of 
space and labor, combined with the greatest possible strength 
of construction, is evidenced in this work. The cells in whicIT 
the worker-bees are reared measure about five to the inch, on 
each side of the comb, or twenty-nine to the square inch. The 
cells in which drones are reared, and of which about ten per- 
cent are built in the brood apartment, measure four to the inch, 
or about eighteen to the square inch. The total for both sides 
of the comb is, of course, double that number. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 21 

A number of cells are built, which are called intermediate 
cells, when changing from worker to drone comb. These inter- 
mediate cells, or cells of accommodation, are of irregular 
shape, and of sizes varying between the other two, according 
to requirements. 

Besides the cells already enumerated, large cells, hanging 
downward and shaped like an acorn or a peanut, are found here 
and there, especially at the lower edges of the combs. These 
are queen-cells. In them the queens are reared for swarming 
or to replace the old queen when she becomes unfertile. The 
worker and drone cells are used not only for brood-rearing, 



Fig 12— Frame of Brood, showing Queen-Cells Built Naturally and One 

Inserted. 

but also for storing honey. Pollen is almost invariably stored 
in worker-cells. 

It is estimated that from seven to fifteen pounds of honey 
are required to be consumed by the bees to produce a pound oi 
comb. The quantity undoubtedly varies greatly according to 
the conditions in which the bees find themselves when the 
comb is built. The greatest amount is secured during a strong 
honey-flow, in a summer temperature. Excessive heat is ob- 
jectionable only, in this connection, when sufficient to render 
the wax too soft and cause a break-down. "Blood heat" is 
undoubtedly the most- satisfactory. 

The great cost of wax to the bees has caused apiarists to 
devise methods whereby the beeswax produced from combs 
that have been melted may be returned to the bees in the shape 



22 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



of comb foundation, forming the base of the comb, which will 
be mentioned in a separate chapter. 

At first when the combs are built, they are generally trans- 
parently white, but with age and use for brood-rearing they 
become dark and opaque. The thin cocoons lining the cells, 
help to make them so; such are, however, just as valuable for 
breeding purposes for a long time, or until the size is mate- 
rially diminished, thereby causing dwarfed brood. They are also 
valuable for storing honey, where the extractor is used. During 
a harvest of honey and pollen of deep yellow or amber shade, 
the comb promptly assumes that color, though white when 
first secreted. 




A Brood-Comb with Honey at the Top, and Sealed and Unsealed Worker- 
Brood Below— the Usual Appearance in the Breeding Season. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



Establishing an Apiary 

Few persons sufficiently admire the habits of the bees, 
their skill in extracting the quintessence of the flowers, their 
preference for the best honey, for they never seek for cheap 
sweets, sugars or syrups, if nectar is to be had; their eager 
ejection from their home of dead bodies of their own race or 
of other insects, which, if they cannot drag away, they will 
carefully cover up and entomb in propolis; their love of clean- 
liness and quiet neighborhoods; their singularly clean manage- 
ment and handling of so adhesive a liquid as honey, from which 
they issue forth as if they had had nothing to do with it; the 
careful making of their combs, remodeling to suit themselves 
even the pretty comb foundation furnished to them; their 
orderly policy, their love of home; their apparent indifference 
to anything regarding themselves which is not for the common 
good, throwing themselves into- danger and fighting for their 
hive at the loss even of life. 

Bee-Keeping as a Science 

To succeed in any calling, we must first gain a reasonable 
amount of knowledge of the science upon which are founded 
the rules of that art. Bee-keeping is a science, having for its 
object the attainment of a correct knowledge of all that per- 
tains to the habits and instincts of these wonderful insects; 
and a practical art which regards all the attainments thus 
made as the only reliable basis of successful bee-culture. There- 
fore, to make the pursuit both pleasant and profitable we must 
possess the requisite knowledge of the laws that govern these 
industrious creatures. 

Reading and study as well as experience and observation 
are essential to obtain this knowledge. The lacking of these 
things will account for the many failures of those whose 
enthusiasm is not supported by experimental knowledge! 

Every apiarist, therefore, must read and study, in order to 
practice the art with pleasure and profit. 



24 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 

Who Should Keep Bees? 



The careless, slovenly and lazy person should not keep 
bees. The care of an apiary is more than it is usually con- 
ceived to be — it is work! Work for the brain, as well as the 
hands and feet! Yet bee-culture is not difficult and does not 
require a great amount of strength. It is well adapted to fur- 




Miss Emma M. Wilson— a Noted Illinois Apiarist and Writer on Bees. 

nish recreation to men of sedentary professions, lawyers, min- 
isters, doctors, and teachers especially, who are often at leis- 
ure during the summer months when the bees require the 
greatest amount of attention, and who may thus add quite a 
little to their income. Ladies may keep bees, and often- suc- 
ceed better than men, because they pay more attention to de- 
tails. "The bee-business is a business of details." It has been 
stated that the handling of heavy hives or supers full of honey 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



25 



is too hard for women, but it is easy to secure occasional help 
to do the heavy lifting required only when the honey crop is 
good. 

Patience, persistence before discouragements, neatness and 
foresight are the requirements of an apiarist. You must also 




Miss Hettie E. Hoffman— a 200-Colony Bee-Keeper in New York State. 

learn to handle bees without fear, if you expect to enjoy the 
work. This is not difficult, and directions will be found in 
another chapter. Very little capital is required, for the busi- 
ness must be learned on a small scale. 



Suitable Location 

Unless you expect to keep bees on a large scale, almost 
any location is suitable for an apiary. 

Mr. Newman's apiary was located in Chicago, close to one 
of the main thoroughfares and street-car lines, and the results 
in both increase of colonies and honey was exceedingly satis- 
factory. Mr. Muth and Mr. Weber, of Cincinnati, had their 
apiaries on the roof of their store — and were successful with 
them. 



26 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



It is a fact that even around large cities, many good honey- 
producing plants are found, in vacant lots or about deserted 
streets. Sweet clover abounds around many a large city, and 
two-thirds of the honey harvested about Chicago is of this 
source. 

If, however, you wish to make bee-culture a specialty it is 
best to make choice of a location where fruit and flowers 




A 20-CoIony Roof-Apiary in Chicago. 

abound, where white clover is found in the pastures, and fall 
blossoms in the field's. 

One thing we would say: Don't go where there are already 
many other bee-keepers, for several reasons: 

ist. If you should have Italians, you don't want to have 
your queens fertilized by impure drones. 

2d. The pasturage may not be sufficient to support more 
bees. 

3d. Older bee-keepers may think you are "treading on 
their toes," and it may lead to unpleasant feelings, and a disas- 
trous competition. A territory of three or four miles all alone 
is quite a luxury, if you intend keeping bees for profit. A hun- 
dred colonies may be kept in such a spot, with profit. 

A timber range is very desirable, for a large portion of 
their honey and pollen they gather from timber and shrubs. 
Many good localities are found near rivers or streamlets, 
where abound linden, sumac, maple, willow, cottonwood, and 
other trees, shrubs and vines that yield honey and pollen. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



27 



The bees should be near the house, or where they can be 
heard when they swarm. They should be so located that the 
north and west winds would not strike them, where they can 
have a warm, calm place to alight. 

A hedge, high board-fence (Fig. 13) or building on the 
north and west are a protection against the strong winds 
which destroy very many laboring bees in the spring, when 
one bee is worth as much as a dozen in the latter part of sum- 
mer, as they are then much needed to care for the brood and 
keep it warm. 

If, in April, the day has been rather warm and the evening 
cool and windy, hundreds of bees may be found on the ground 
in front of the hive, perhaps loaded with pollen, but exhausted 
from the flight and chilled with cold. As they approach the 
hive they relax their exertions, and a light whiff of wind dashes 
them to the ground, from which they are unable to arise, and 




Fig. 13— Apiary Well Sheltered from Winter's Wind. 



before the sun could warm them up, the next morning, they 
will be dead. 

If you have no shade for your hives, it would be best to 
plant fruit-trees among them. These would not only supply 
them with pollen and honey in blooming time, but acceptable 
shade in hot summer days. 

Use sand or gravel under and around the hives, to prevent 
the springing up of grass to the annoyance of the bees. 



28 BEES AND HONEY; OR 

Which Way Should Hives Face? 

There seems to be no facing superior to the one that allows 
the sun's rays to shine directly into the entrance of a hive at 
11:30 a. m. There is not a difference of any consequence be- 
tween a south, southeast or southwest aspect, and selection 




Hives Shaded with Roofs— Good for Sun or Rain. 

may be made to suit the apiarist's notion. Next to this, we 
should say, face to the east; if this is impossible, then west — 
and when no other is available, submit to a north frontage. 

Early in the spring is the best time to begin — and thus se- 
cure an increase of bees as well as honey the first year. 

How Many Colonies to Begin With. 

Purchase a colony from some reliable breeder or dealer, 
and in order to get experience, increase from one or two colo- 
nies — not more. 

Moving Bees 

Spring is the best time to transport your bees or move 
them from one locality to another. Select a cool day in 
March or April. They may be moved at any time, even in hot 
weather, but the danger of smothering the bees or having the 
combs break down is much greater. In April, when the combs 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



29 



contain the least amount of honey, and before the hives have 
become populous, bees may be moved by simply nailing the 
cap or cover and bottom-board to the main body, and closing 
up the entrance with a slat also nailed fast. Sufficient air will 
be supplied through the cracks of the entrance to keep them 
from smothering for several hours, and perhaps several days. 
In very hot weather it is necessary to remove the bottom- 
board and replace it with a frame fitted with wire-cloth pro- 




Fig. 14— Respiratory Organs of the Honey-Bee. d, antennae; e, eyes; 
g, legs; f, air-trachea. 



tected with slats so as not to be in danger of having a hole 
punched in it in handling. Keep the hives shaded, and out of 
the sun as much as possible in transportation. 

When bees are transported a very short distance, less than 
two miles, there is a possibility of the old bees returning to 
their old location. To avoid this, drum them and frighten them 
well before releasing them, and place a shade-board or some 
sort of obstruction in front of the entrance, so they may be 
compelled to notice the change of location at the first issue 



30 ' BEES AND HONEY; OR 

from home. In this way there will be but little loss. The man- 
ner in which bees mark their location is as follows: 

They do not leave the hive in a straight line, but go only a 
few inches, then turn their heads towards the hive and oscillate 
back and forth in front of it; then moving further back, still 
hovering in front of the hive, with their heads towards the 
■entrance, occasionally advancing towards it, as if to note more 
particularly the place of entrance and its immediate surround- 
ings, they then increase the distance, taking a survey of build- 
ings, trees, fences, or other noticeable objects near by, after 
which they return to the hive, and start in a direct line from it. 
On returning, they come directly to the hive and enter; the 
surrounding objects and the color of the hive are all noted by 
the bees. 

What Kind of Bees to Get 

Some prefer to purchase black bees in box-hives, and then 
transfer them to movable-frame hdves in order to get experi- 
ence. In that case, they should be populous colonies with the 
comb yellow or brown. Then the honey received may help to 
pay for the cost of transferring. 

The best satisfaction may be obtained by purchasing strong 
Italian colonies in movable-frame hives in the spring. Such 
will doubtless, in a few seasons, pay for themselves, thus prov- 
ing the cheapest in the end, though a little more outlay is re- 
quired at first. One such colony is worth two of the former. 

To examine a box-hive, incline it to one side, looking from 
the bottom up, between the combs. By using a smoker, the 
bees may be driven back, and one may discover if it has capped 
brood, larvae, and plenty of bees. It should have such, to be 
considered in good condition. 

'Colonies which have numerous bees flying in and out in a 
warm day of spring, and where many bees are seen returning 
with pollen on their legs, may be safely considered as in good 
condition. 

Buying "Swarms of Bees" 

A first swarm is always to be .preferred, and if possible 
from a colony which gave a swarm the previous year, for then 
the old queen will be in her second year — vigorous and at her 
best. A small, second swarm should be passed by, in pur- 
chasing. The old queen always accompanies the first swarm. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 31 

Will Bees Injure Fruit? 

Bees never puncture fruit, and unless the skin has been 
broken by other insects or birds, they never molest it. Any 
one can easily determine whether bees injure grapes or not. 
We know it is charged against them by some persons, but if 
one will take sound grapes and hang them up in the apiary 
where the bees have full access to them, the matter can be 
easily demonstrated. This experiment has often been tried, but 
we have never yet heard of a single instance where the bees 
have punctured even one sound grape. Dr. Wm. R. Howard, 
of Texas, says: 

"I have tried the following experiments: Bees were cover- 
ing the grapes in the vineyard, and seemed actually intoxicated 
on the wine. Removing several bunches, some of which had 
punctured berries, and some sound ones, they were taken to the 
apiary, and the bees soon found them and went to work vigor- 
ously. As soon as the punctured ones were exhausted, the bees 
abandoned them and went in quest of something better. Then 
the bees were furnished more of the same lot, and closed in 
the hive; as soon as the punctured ones were exhausted, they 
seemed uneasy; then bunch after bunch of sound grapes were 
given them, which were eagerly covered, but as soon as it was 
found that none were punctured, they fell back in dismay. The 
mandibles of the honey-bee are not dentate or serrate, but are 
simply smooth, and beautifully rounded at the points, spoon or 
scoop-shaped. If any one will examine these mandibles with 
a good microscope, it will satisfy him at a glance of the inca- 
pability of the honey-bee to damage, by puncture, any fruits 
whatever." 

Mr. H. D. Cutting, once a prominent bee-keeper in Michi- 
gan, says: 

"I suspended a cluster of grapes under a tree, and poured 
sugar syrup on it; they took all the syrup, but did not damage 
the cluster, until a wasp managed to bite three berries before I 
could kill it; those three the bees finished. With many experi- 
ments, during five years, being surrounded by bees and afford- 
ing them every opportunity of doing damage, and, failing to 
find them doing any, I think those who condemn the bees 
should experiment for themselves; they may come to the same 
conclusion as did the people of Massachusetts, who, years ago, 
thought the bees damaged their fruit, and had them banished; 
but, finding that fruit began to decrease and become <of a poor 
quality, were only too glad to have the law repealed, and get the 
bees back again, when their fruit improved again." 

Not only are the bees unable to injure sound fruit, they 
also disregard the juice of fruits when sweeter juices may be 
had. Bees will never be seen in the vineyard among the 



32 BEES AND HONEY ; OR 

grapes, around cider or wine presses, if there is nectar in the 
flowers. Only in times of scarcity will they harvest fruit- 
juices, and this is always a matter of regret for the apiarist, 
for fruit-juice is never a healthy winter food. Bees winter badly 
upon it, and when any such crop has been harvested it is best 
to remove it from the hive and replace it with better food. 



Bees Profitable in the Orchard 

After showing that bees cannot injure sound fruit, we may 
add that they are indispensable to the fertilization of the fruit. 
A quotation has been made in the introduction of this book, 
from Darwin, showing that bees are needed for the fertilization 
of the clovers. The same thing may be said of the apple, the 
peach and other fruits, especially the strawberry. In this plant 
there are varieties which carry no pollen, the male part of the 
blossom being absent. In such as these the agency of insects 
like the honey-bee is (indispensable, since they carry pollen 
unintentionally from the pollen-producing blossoms to those 
blossoms which possess only a pistil — the female organ. Apples 
and peaches are fertilized more efficiently by pollen other than 
that of their own blossom. That is why the most bounteous 
seasons for fruits are those in which the bees worked most 
diligently upon the blossoms. The honey-bee is the friend of 
the horticulturist instead of being his enemy, as many are in- 
clined to believe.. 

Help Weak Colonies 

When in early spring you find colonies that are weak in 
numbers, from winter losses, they may readily be helped (if 
not worthless and if they have a good queen) by giving them 
a comb of brood from a stronger colony, after all danger of 
the brood being chilled has passed. On the other hand, strong 
colonies may be employed to cleanse out combs containing 
dried-up bees that have died during the winter on mouldy combs. 
If your strong colonies have their hives already filled with 
frames of brood, then remove sufficient to accomplish the pur- 
pose; but where a colony is already feeble, and tit is desirable 
to build up rapidly, no disagreeable work should be imposed 
upon the bees to perform, for it will tax their energies suffi- 
ciently to provide pollen, water, and do the feeding and nurs- 
ing necessary for successful brood-rearing. A strong colony 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



33 



will accomplish in a few hours that which would embarrass a 
weak co-lony for nearly a whole season. 

Removing Propolis from the Hands 

We are often asked what will remove bee-glue from the 
hands. Alcohol or spirits of turpentine will do it; or a little 
slacked lime kept in the bee-house will be found convenient, 
during the summer, to remove propolis from the hands. Moisten 
the parts desired to be cleansed, then rub with wet lime until 
the propolis is removed. 



■■..--■ 



Fruit-Blossoms Ready to Welcome the Visits of the Honey-Bees. 



34 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



Hives and Honey Receptacles 

Indefatigable industry is the peculiar characteristic of the 
bees. During the height of their harvest, they often sally 
forth even before the rising of the orb of day, and when the 
short twilight of evening has cast its somber mantle over the 




M. QUINBY 
Author of " Mysteries of Bee-Keeping: Explained." 

face of Nature, they may sometimes be seen returning to their 
homes laden with sweets, which, but for their industry, would 
be forever lost. Neither the scorching rays of the sun, nor 
wind, will stop them; they avail themselves of every moment 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 35 

that can be employed to advantage, when the fields are decked 
with flowers containing the precious nectar! 

The Creator gave to the bees no written law, but to 
guide their labors He imparted to them instinct to a surpris- 
ing degree. When the faded bloom and darkened horizon indi- 
cate the approach of winter, they look to their hoarded stores 
for sustenance till the early flowers of spring put in an appear- 
ance. 

As they provide abundantly, their keeper may reasonably 
call for the surplus, after supplying their own necessities. For 
this he should supply them with a neat and comfortable home, 
having all the conveniences for storing the precious nectar in 
convenient and attractive shape. It is, therefore, a matter of 
some moment to decide what style of hive will best accommo- 
date them as well as their master. 

What Hive to Use 

A good hive wiill give the apiarist complete control of 
the frames of comb. It must give sufficient room for the. 
breeding apartment as well as for surplus honey, and must 
admit of close scrutiny and easy manipulation. 



The Langstroth Hive 

Though movable-frame hives were in use in Europe, in 
rude form, as early as 1795, they were not at all practical until 




Fig. 15— Original Langstroth Hive. 

the illustrious German, Dzierzon, invented a hive, in 1848, and 
our own distinguished- and honored Langstroth, in 1852, pre- 
sented the world with one that has, with his system of man- 



36 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



agement, completely revolutionized bee-keeping everywhere, 
making it a practical science. 

With the movable-frame hive, all the combs can be taken 
out and replaced, or exchanged with other hives at will, with 
out the least detriment to the bees. The combs having a sur- 
plus of honey can be emptied with the extractor, without in- 
jury, and returned to the hive to be refilled — thus saving labor 









'' % 




',"':■ 




>,:'fy 




^^^mm&-,'-' 














WgjFfc-. 


.'• ".. . .' :■■•.'■:."-..,' ■ ■. 


! 
1 









L. L. LANGSTROTH 

,c Father of American Apiculture"— (1810-1895) 



for the bees in making new combs, and honey for their 
keeper. 

The queen can be found, examined, and, when necessary, 
can be replaced by one more prolific, or one in some other way 
more desirable; and artificial colonies can be made by dividing 
at will, as we shall see hereafter. If a colony be weak, it 
can be strengthened by giving it a frame or two of brood from 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



37 



some other hive. In fact, the movable frame makes the bee- 
keeper "the master of the situation." 

Since the invention of the movable-frame hive, many hives 
of different styles have been devised, but the principal feature 




Fig. 16 — "Dovetailed" or Lock-Cornered Hive. 

of this hive has been retained in nearly every instance, to-wit: 
a hive containing frames which are spaced from the body of 
the hive, about Y% of an inch, on ends, bottom and top. This 
space prevents the bees from gluing the frames to the body 
of the hive with propolis, and makes them removable at all 
times, provided the comb has been built straight in them. 



s&s 



per 



Droad*Cha>n her 
or 
Body 




I 



8 JOCKS' "~1 

"''"->. ' - — — ' ' 



Fig. 17-Dadant Tri-State Hive. 

This straight building of comb was formerly secured by a tri- 
angular edge on the under side of the frame top-bar, from 
which the bees hang their combs, lit is now almost invariably 
secured by the aid of strips or full sheets of comb foundation 
(q. v.). 



3§ 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



Hives are made dovetailed or lock-cornered as in Fig. 16 
or halved as in Fig. 17. 

The lock-corner hive, though more tightly fitting when 
first built, will last less time than the other, owing to its many 




Fig. 18— Hive-Body with Plain Hanging Frames. 

joiints exposed to the weather. Both .hives are nailed from 
both sides, and unlikely to warp if well painted. 

The plain hanging frame is used mostly, and is the easiest 
handled in the brood-chamber (Fig. 18). But many people 




11' 

Fig. 19— Hoffman-Langstroth Brood-Frame. 

use the Hoffman self-spacing frame (Fig. 19), winch is a little 
better liked by beginners because they cannot make the mis- 
take of putting too many or too few frames in each hive. It 
is here necessary to say that the combs of the bees are spaced 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



39 



from \V% to V/2 inches from center to center within the brood- 
chamber, and that closer or farther spacing will result either in 
too narrow and imperfect combs, or in two combs being built 
on the same support, making undesirable irregularities. 

Many frames are now made with two grooves on the un- 
derside of the top-bar, one of which is for receiving the comb 
foundation, the other a wedge to fasten it (Fig. 20.) 

The all-important requirement in the use of movable-frame 
hives is to have the combs built straight in them, and this is 
secured by that device. 

Most apiarists use hives containing ten brood-frames of 
Langstroth size, or measuring g J A x 17% outside. Some apiar- 
ists, however, use smaller hives containing only eight frames. 




Fig. 20—1, Under side of Top-Bar, showing the Two Grooves; 2, Shows the 

Comb Foundation Strip Inserted in one groove, and 

the Wedge above the other groove. 



The writer is much in favor of the large hives, and uses a still 
deeper frame — 11^2x18^/2 inches — as success cannot be ex- 
pected permanently unless the hives are sufficiently spacious 
to accommodate the most prolific queens at the time of the 
breeding, previous to the honey crop. Niot only must the hive 
contain cells enough for all the eggs that the queen may be 
able to lay in 21 days (which is the period required for the 
worker-bees to hatch), but it must also have space enough to 
hold, in addition, enough honey and pollen for their needs. 



40 BEES AND HONEY J OR 



Production of Choice Honey 

In no country on the face of the earth is honey produced 
that can excell that of North America. Nature has supplied 
this vast Continent with honey sources as varied and plenteous 
as can be found anywhere in the world. And within the past few 
years, many (improved methods and appliances have been in- 
vented for the increased production of honey, as well as to 
multiply the volume and vastly enrich the quality of the product. 
Simultaneously with these improvements, we find the conse- 
quent increased consumption. Heretofore it was a great luxury, 
enjoyed only by a few — but now it takes its place among 
staple articles. Improved management, as well as increased 
production, have brought the price down to that which can be 
afforded by every family. 

Honey in the Comb 

Not only have we forsaken the log-gums and rude straw 
and box hives of our fathers, and given these busy little work- 




Fig. 21— Oblong and Square Sections of Honey Contrasted. 

ers a neater home, with movable frames to contain their 
combs, but we have taught them to store their surplus honey in 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



41 



small sectional-frames, so that it can be easily taken from the 
hives when full, and marketed in convenient shape, suited to 
the requirements of retail purchasers. 

After numerous experiments, the so-called "one-pound 
section" has been accepted as the standard. Its size is 4^x4*4 
inches, and its width usually i 7 A inches. The thickness of the 
surplus combs may be greater than that of the brood-combs 
given on a preceding page. The thickness of the brood-combs 
is regulated by the length of the body of the bee which is 
hatched in the cells, while the surplus combs may be built as 
thick as two or three inches as storage combs. Other sizes 
than the regular pound sections are used; however, uniformity 
is desirable rather than novelty. Three different sizes of sec- 
tions are given in Fig. 21. 

Instead of making the section boxes in four pieces, nailed 
or matched together, they are made in one piece, as in Fig. 22. 



I 



Fig. 22— One-Piece One-Pound Honey-Section. 

Here is shown the 4^x454 one-piece section, the grooves 
being represented by a, a, a. These can be easily bent into 
the shape of a box, by hand, but that can. of course be done 
much faster by machinery.- 

Plain Section-Boxes and Cleated Separators 

For years the section-box has been made with one or more 
scallops on each edge, for the purpose of allowing the bees to 
enter from below, and also to pass on up to another tier of sec- 




Fig. 23— Fence or Cleated Separator. 



tions when supers are tiered upon the hives. But later there 
was introduced what is known as the "Plain" section, all the 
scallops being omdtted, and the sections being made i x A inches 
in width. In order to allow the bees to get into the sections 



42 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



and also pass on up to those placed over the first tier, the sepa- 
rator used between the rows in a super are cleated in such a 
way as to hold the rows <of sections apart. Such separators have 
been called "Fences," or cleated-slat separators. Fig. 23 gives 
an excellent idea of this separator. 

Plain separators are also used, as in Fig. 24. The advan- 
tage of all these separators is to secure combs which do not 
project or bulge out into each other. This allows the casing 
of sections from different hives within any box without dan- 
ger of getting them scratched, and causing the honey to leak. 

Supers for Holding Section-Boxes 

There are various arrangements for holding the section- 
boxes in which is placed the surplus honey. Perhaps that most 
widely used is the section-holder. A super used on an 8-frame 
hive holds six of these section-holders, and for a io-frame hive 




Fig. 24— Super of Section-Holders Filled with Section-Boxes. 

Explanations.— D, solid wood separator; A. dovetailed super; E, section- 
boxes; F, follower-board; 6, wedge for between follower-board and 
super side, to make all solid. 



seven of them. Each section-holder takes four sections 4^ x 
4^4 inches in size. A separator is then placed between two sec- 
tion-holders (Fig. 24). 

A section-holder might be called a wide frame without a 
top piece, simply two end-blocks nailed on a bottom slat. The 
section-holders are supported in the super by two strips of tin 
nailed crosswise under each end. The section-holders, with 
the sections and separators, are then wedged up from one side 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 43 

by the use of a follower-board and a wedge, thus making all 
snug and tight. 

Removing Honey from the Super 

Before taking honey from the supers, it is necessary first 
to get the bees out of them. Dr. C. C. Miller does this, if the 
crop is still on and the bees do not rob (q. v.), by simply rais- 
ing the super off the hive and leaning it against the bive. The 
bees which are thus uncovered and exposed soon make a march- 
ing file towards the hive. But one must watch them, as they 
may soon come back and begin carrying away the honey. 
Another method followed by him is to pile the supers taken off, 
covering them with a cloth in the center of which has been 
sewed a wdre-cloth in the shape of a cone with a small hole 
at the top. The bees escape under this cloth to the cone and 




Fig. 25— Super with Plain Sections and Fences. 

out, but are unable to find their way back. It is best not to 
put the piles of supers too far from the hives from which they 
are taken, as some of the young bees might be unable to find 
their way back home. However, the flight of the old bees 
usually indicates to them the route, and a young bee, full of 
honey, is generally welcome in any hive she may adopt, unless 
there is much robbing and fighting. 

Piles of supers containing bees, without queens, are usually 
deserted by the bees shortly after they are removed if only 
covered with a cloth or a light sheet. The bees will crawl out 
and away from under the sheet, but care must be taken that 
robber-bees do not find their way in, as they would soon carry 
away all the honey. These operations should be performed in 
the shade, but during the warm part of the day, while the field- 
bees are at work. There is then less danger of being stung, 



44 bees and honey; or 

and a less number of bees in the super. Night operations should 
be avoided. 

Shipping-Cases for Honey 




Fig. 26— No-Drip Shipping-Case. 

Cases in which to pack comb honey for shipment are made 
in various sizes, holding from 12 sections to 28 in a single tier 




Fig. 27— Well-Sealed Honey in Sections, 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING. 



45 



(Fig. 26). Those most generally used hold 12 or 24 sections 
of honey. The 12-section cases usually show three sec- 




Fig. 28— Three-Row 12-Pound Shipping-Case. 

tions through a glass side, and the twenty-four section case 
shows four sections next to the glass. 

The most . satisfactory shipping-case has inside a folded 
paper pan at the bottom, upon which are tacked small strips 
crosswise whereon to set the sections. This forms what is 
known as the "no-drip" shipping-case (Fig. 26). Should there 
be any dripping of the honey it simply is caught in the paper 
pan, and the cross strips hold up the sections so that they do not 




Fig. 29— Shipping-Cases Filled with Comb Honey. 

rest in the honey-drippings. Of course only perfect sections 
of honey should be packed for market, and not any that are 
at all in a leaky condition. 



Shipping Comb Honey to Market 

A few directions on packing comb honey for shipping by 
railroad may be useful. I»t is best to have a large crate hold- 
ing perhaps 16 of the 12-section cases, or 8 of the 24-section 
cases. First put about four inches of straw in the bottom of 
the large crate, then place .in the cases of honey, not forgetting 
to put straw at the sides and ends of the large crate, as it is 
filled with the cases pf honey. The straw acts as a cushion. 



4 6 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



After nailing on the top pieces enclosing the large crate, nail 
a three or four inch board on each side, about a third or quar- 
ter 



off the way down from the top, to be used as handles for 




Fig 30— Crate for Shipping Cases of Comb Honey. 

carrying the whole crate of perhaps 200 pounds of honey. Thus 
two men can carry it easily, and there is practically no danger 
of breakage, if properly packed (Fig. 30). 

Extracted Honey 




Fig. 31— Two-Story Hive for Producing Extracted Honey. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



47 



The devices for the production of comb-honey — sections, 
separators, section-holders — are not desirable for the production 
of liquid honey, to be taken out of the combs with the honey- 




■M-y 




Fig. 32— Shallow Super with Frames instead of Sections, for Producing 
Extracted Honey. 



extractor (q. v.). For this purpose, hives are supplied with 
either a double story as in Fig. 31, or with half-story supers 
containing frames of shallow depth, as in Fig. 32. 




Fig. 33— Well-Sealed Honey in Shallow Extracting-Frarres. 



The Honey Harvest 

The supers should not be put upon the hives until the 
opening of the honey crop. When upon examination in May 
or June, the bees are found gathering honey and beginning to 



4 8 



BEES AND HONEY! OR 



store it in the cells above the brood in the body of the hive, 
supers may be given them. Baits consisting of combs al- 
ready built and unfinished from the previous season will be 
found useful in inducing the bees to go into the supers. 

Extracting supers, after the first season, will be filled with 
comb, since the honey is removed without damaging the comb. 




Fig. 34— Queen-Excluder to place between the Brood- Apartment and the 

Supers. 

For that reason the bees ascend in these supers much more 
readily, and produce a great deal more honey than they do in 
sections, which are new, since the filled ones have been re- 
moved entirely after each crop. 

In order to prevent the queen from going into the supers 
and laying eggs there, which would soil the combs, giving them 
a dark color, bee-keepers have devised a queen-excluder, made 




Fig. 35.— Shows the exact size of Zinc Perforations. 



of zinc with perforations that enable only the worker-bees to 
go up into the super (Fig. 34). 

The perforated zinc (Fig. 35) is also used for queen and 
drone traps, to prevent the queen from going out with a swarm, 
or as bee-entrance guards for the same purpose. But all these 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 49 

contrivances are more or less in the way of the bees, and 
prevent easy ventilation in hot weather, and they should be 
avoided as much as possible. 

As a super is filled, more may be added, either by 
raising the super already partly filled and adding another be- 
tween it and the body of the hive, or by adding the new super 
on top of the other. When the new super is put on top of the 
other, there is less danger, of the bees leaving a part of the sec- 
tions unfilled or unsealed. On the other hand, the addition 
of a new super under the first is a great incentive to active 
work, and helps prevent the desire to swarm. 

By all means care should be taken not to furnish enough 
room to scatter the honey in a large space, and not get the sec- 
tions sealed. When producing comb honey it is very important 
to get all the sections sealed. (Fig. 27.) But sealed sections 
ought to be removed as promptly as possible, in order that 
they may not be soiled by the bees traveling over them, which 
discolors them and gives them a more or 4ess stale appearance. 

In the production of extracted honey, the sealing of the 
combs has not so much importance. As the bees are able to 
harvest a great deal' more honey, when the combs are furn- 




Fig. 36— Porter Bee-Escape. 

ished already built, we often give two supers at first to strong 
colonies. The only question is to get the honey well ripened 
before it is removed from the hive. Fresh honey usually runs 
like water, often containing as much as 75 percent of water. It 
takes a week or more to ripen it. This is done by the bees 
sending a strong draft or ventilation through the hive, night 
and day, during the crop, by the fanning of their wings. The 
novice will readily see this by taking notice of the bees at the 
entrance on a warm evening. The file of bees which are occu- 
pied in fanning the hive runs all through their home. In 
this way they not only evaporate the surplus water out of the 
nectar, but they also keep the temperature down within reas- 



5° 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



onable limits. We cannot conceive of a better managed com- 
monwealth than that of the bees. 

To remove the supers, either at the end of the crop, or 
when some of them are filled, a little implement has been 
devised., called the "bee-escape" (Fig. 36). This is inserted 
in a honey-board, between the body and the supers, and the bees 
which go down through it <are not able to return. By lifting 
the supers tin the evening, and placing the escape-board under 
them, we are sure of finding the supers empty of bees when 
morning comes, with the exception of a dozen bees or so. 
This method is still better than the one mentioned in the bee- 
hive and implement chapter, but it requires two operations in- 
stead of one. 

In most of the States of the Mississippi Valley, there are two 
crops of honey, distinctly separate in ordinary seasons. The 
first crop, which is composed mainly of the honey of the white 
clover and basswood, lasts from the beginning of June to the 
tenth of July; the other crop, composed of fall-flower nectar, 
from persicarias, Spanish-needle, asters, etc., lasts from the mid- 
dle of August until frost. Of course the dates above given 
vary according to latitude and amount of moisture, lateness 
of season, etc. 




FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



51 



The Honey-Extractor and Its Use 

Following closely after the increased knowledge concern- 
ing the natural history o.f the honey-bee came improvements 
in bee-hives and modern appliances for obtaining an increased 
production of honey. Major Von Hruschka, a retired Austrian 
officer, who was then keeping bees in Italy, invented the honey- 
extractor; and its great value is everywhere admitted by all 
progressive bee-keepers. 

The Invention of the Extractor 

The following is a brief history of the discovery: One day 
when the Major, who was a most observing and critical bee- 
keeper, was in his apiary, his little boy came to him. The boy 
had a small tin pail tied to a string, which he was swinging, 




Fig. 37— A Modern Honey-Extractor, showing Inside Basket. 



boy-like, around and around in a circle, holding the end of the 
string in his hand. The 7 father gave the youth a piece of comb 
filled with honey, putting it into the little pail. The boy, 
after a while, began to swing the pail again as before, with the 
honey in it. A few moments after, he became tired of that 



52 BEES AND HONEY J OR 

amusement, and put the pail down to talk to his father, who 
took it up, and, by chance, noticed that the honey had left 
the comb and settled down into the pail, leaving the comb per- 
fectly clean that had been on the outside of the circle when 
the boy was swinging it around. The major wondered at the 
circumstances, and, turning the comb over, bade the boy swing 
it again, when the other side of the comb also became per- 
fectly clean, all the honey being "extracted" and lying at the 
bottom of the pail. That night Major Von Hruschka, after 
going to bed, commenced to think the circumstances over, and 
his thoughts troubled him so much that on the morrow he 




Major Von Hruschka, Inventor of the Honey-Extractor. 

commenced a series of experiments which resulted in his giving 
to the world the first honey-extractor, which, by whirling, 
something Like his son whirled that little tin pail, gave him 
the pure liquid" honey, extracted by centrifugal force, leaving 
the honey-comb entirely free from the liquid sweet, which he 
gave again to the bees to fill; allowing him the pure honey 
free from the comb, for eating, cooking or baking, as de- 
aired, without employing the troublesome and primitive method 
in use up to that time, of mashing up the combs containing 
the honey, pollen, and sometimes brood, too, to let the honey 
drain through the cloth in which it was placed — giving what 
was formerly known as "strained honey." 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



53 



Major Von Hruschka's original and complicated honey- 
extractor has been greatly improved. Now we have neat and 
inexpensive machines which do their work well and rapidly, 
but honey consumers generally have no idea how it is accom- 
plished, and some "old fogy" bee-keepers, as well as novices, 
still ask how rit is done. 

Extracted honey is obtained by the combs being uncapped 
and placed in the basket or frame-holder of a honey-extractor 
(Fig. 37), which being attached to a single rod in a large can 
and revolved, the centrifugal force throws out the pure honey 
from the combs, which runs down the sides of the can and 
is drawn off and placed in jars or some other desirable recep- 
tacle. Extracted honey is the pure liquid — minus the comb. 

The essential points in a good honey-extractor are: One 
that can be easily taken to pieces and cleaned; one that the shaft 




Fig. 38— Cowan Rapid Reversible Honey-Extractor. 

holding the revolving basket in position, does not revolve in 
the 'honey; one that has strong gearing, essential to ease of 
operation and effective work. 

Since the combs must be turned over after extracting the 
honey on one side, in order to get it from both sides, extrac- 
tors have been invented which reverse their baskets auto- 
matically while in motion. 

Such an extractor is shown an Fig. 38. As the speed is 
arrested after extracting one side of the combs, the baskets 



54 BEES and honey; or 

swing over to the right or left, according to the direction 
given, and the opposite side of the combs is extracted with- 
out lifting them out. 

The combs must be uncapped before extracting. For this 
purpose the Bingham uncapping knife is generally used (Fig. 
39). It is made of the best steel, strong at the bend near the 
handle. Both edges are sharp and are beveled on the side tha: 
comes in contact with the combs. This prevents the, knife 




Fig. 39— Bingham Uncapping-Knife. 

from adhering to the combs and tearing them, while shaving 
off the cappings. As both edges are alike, it admits of being 
used for right or left hand work; the sharp point also allows 
it to be used in corners or uneven places. Its bevel also 
prevents the cappings from sticking back to the comb, and 
causes them to drop in the uncapping can or other receiving 
strainer. 

When to Use the Honey-Extractor 

If the apiarist is running his bees for comb honey, the 
only use of a honey-extractor is to remove the honey from 
the brood-combs when the breeding apartment becomes so 
full of honey that the queen has no more room to lay. It 
is also used at the end of the crop to remove the honey from 




- Fig. 40— Holder for Extracting Sections of Honey. 

partly filled sections which are unsalable. A holder for small 
sections is made (Fig. 40), which enables the operator to ex- 
tract the honey without letting. the sections down to the bot- 
tom of the wire cage of the machine. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



55 



When we are running our apiary for extracted honey, it 
is best to keep a sufficient supply of supers to store one entire 
crop. As soon as the June crop is over, or when it begins to 
decrease, if the honey is sufficiently ripe, it should all be re- 
moved. In some very extraordinary seasons we have seen so 
large an amount of honey that it was out of the question to 
wait till the end of the crop. If the combs are sealed and 
the honey very thick it may be extracted at any time. 

By all means the honey from the June crop should be ex- 
tracted, whether much or little, before the beginning of the 




A " Baby " Honey-Extractor for Extracting Sections of Honey. 



fall crop, as the honey of these two crops differs much in color 
as well as taste, as we have said before. 

Inexperienced bee-keepers are sometimes tempted to ex- 
tract too closely, and thus ruin the colony. The extractor 
should not be used to remove honey from the brood-chamber 
unless there is no room for the queen to lay, and this only 
during the 'breeding season. In the fall it is best to leave the 
hive-body as full as possible. The use of the extractor should 
then be confined to the upper story or supers. 



56 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



How to Extract 

After removing the super containing the honey from the 
hive, carry it into the extracting-room. The honey-extractor 
should be carefully fastened down on some sort of platform 
high enough to place a bucket or other receptacle under the 
faucet. Uncap the combs on both sides and place them in the 
basket, putting combs of about equal weight opposite each 
other to prevent a swaying motion. A. few turns of the crank 
will throw the honey out. Reverse the frames and extract 
the other side. If the weather is suitable for honey and the 
crop still continuing, you may at once replace the combs in 




Fig. 4i— An Extracted-Honey Apiary in the Foothills of California. 



the hive from which they were taken, or better still, take them 
to the next hive to be extracted; perform the same operation, 
using the frames just "extracted" from, to fill the places of 
those taken from the hive, and repeat the operation till all 
the hives are treated in the same manner that have a surplus 
of honey. 

By this plan, much work is saved, each colony is handled 
but once, the bees are less disturbed and will resume work 
much sooner. If desired, the frames from the last hive may 
be given to the first, after 'being emptied of the honey, instead 
of empty frames— if no extra combs are at hand for that 
purpose. This is an additional reason why only one style of 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 57 

hive should be used in an apiary — so that the frames may all 
be interchangeable. In "dividing," too, this is very essential. 

However, should the. season be unfavorable and the crop 
at end, the combs should not be. returned to the hives until 
evening, as the honey with w T hich they are more or lesa 
smeared by the extracting will cause excitement and attract 
"robber-bees." 

The cappings which have been cut off or shaved from the 
combs are gathered in a large strainer, called an "uncapping 
can." After draining the honey out of them, they may be 
washed and melted. The washings are usually sweet enough 
to make honey-vinegar (q. v.); the wax should be rendered 
and makes a superior article. For the rendering of these, we 
refer the reader to another part of the book. 

Robber-Bees 

If all the colonies are kept strong there is no danger of 
robbing. It is only the weak ones that are robbed. Working 
with bees at unseasonable times, leaving honey exposed in the 
apiary, etc., induces robbing. Colonies of black bees and 
nuclei are usually the sufferers. Contracting the entrance, so 
that but a single bee can pass, is usually a cure for robbing. 
In times of scarcity of honey, the apiarist should be careful 
not to keep a hive open long, or robbing may be the result. 
All strong colonies maintain sentinels at the entrance in times 
of scarcity. Those of that colony are allowed to pass, but 
strangers are "arrested on the spot." If a colony is unable to 
defend itself, close up the entrance with wire-cloth and remove 
it to the cellar, or some other convenient place, for a few days, 
and when it is returned to the old stand, contract the entrance 
to allow only one bee to pass at a time. 

Another very good method, when robbing has just begun, is 
to throw a bunch of loose grass over the entrance. The hive- 
guards station themselves in that grass and arrest the robbers 
that are bold enough to try to enter. But this method is una- 
vailable after the bees have once given up to robbers. In that 
case, if the colony is worth saving, the only salvation is to find 
the robbing colony by sprinkling a few of the robbers with 
flour and exchanging one hive for the other, placing the robbed 
colony on the stand of the robber, and vice-versa. The behavior 
of the bees in such a case is quite ludicrous, as they find them- 



58 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



selves fooled by the exchange. Such means should be resorted 
to only in extreme cases. 

The best way to avoid robbing is to leave no honey exposed 
in unprotected places. 

We have said that it is only the weak colonies that are 
robbed. There are exceptions, however, and in accidental in- 
stances we have seen very populous colonies overpowered. The 
breaking down of combs of honey from excessive heat or the 
injudicious exposing of their stores by the apiarist in times of 
scarcity may induce this. 




Fig. 42— Natural Swarming— Cutting Down the Swarm. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 59 



Swarming and Queen-Rearing 

Natural Swarms 

Swarming is the natural way of increase for bees. It 
usually takes place in May or June in the North. 

For some days before swarms issue the bees may be seen 
clustering at the entrance of their hive, though some come out 
where there are little or no indications of a swarm. When 
honey is abundant, and bees plenty, look for them to come forth 
at almost any time, from the hours of 10 in the morning to 3 in 
the afternoon, for first swarms; for second and third swarms, 
from 7 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon. 

By examining the colony it can be ascertained whether they 
are about to swarm. If queen-cells are seen with eggs or lar- 
vae nearly ready to be sealed over, a swarm may be expected 
within one or two days after the first cell is sealed over, or as 
soon after as the weather will permit. 

After whirling a few minutes in the air, the mass of the 
bees will cluster on the branch of some convenient tree or 
bush — generally one that is shaded from the sun's rays. 

They should be hived as soon as the cluster is formed, else 
they may leave for the woods; or, if another colony should cast 
a swarm while the first are clustered, they would probably 
unite. 

Should the queen fail to join the bees, by reason of having 
one of her wings clipped, or for any other cause, the swarm 
will return to the hive as soon as they make that discovery. 
As the bees are gorged with honey, they may be handled with- 
out fear of stings. 

"After-swarms" being unprofitable, all but one of the 
queen-cells should be destroyed, or cut out — this will prevent 
any more swarms issuing. Within eight days, the first queen 
will hatch and will take possession of the hive. 

The queen has very little to say as to swarming prepara- 
tions. If a second swarm is desired by the workers they will 
prevent the first queen hatched from destroying the other 



6o 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



queen-cells, which are sometimes very numerous, even on small 
pieces, of comb (Fig. 43). She would be sure to do this if not 
hindered in her desires. If thus restrained, she will show 'her 
irritation by "piping," and this piping is answered by the other 
queens which are kept prisoners in their cells. The second 
swarm then issues within two or three days. 

After the departure of this swarm, and the emerging of the 
second queen and her "piping" is also answered by a third 
queen, a third swarm may also issue. 

If the desire to swarm is satisfied after the departure of 









fjw® 


"*»♦ 


• ■:, 


■ 




\ 


-' 



Fig. 43— Queen-Cells on a Bit of Comb. 



the first swarm, all the queen-cells will be destroyed by the 
first young queen that emerges. The worker-bees often help 
her in this task, which she performs with great alacrity and 
energy. 

How to Hive a Swarm 

If the cluster be low, it is easily performed. Have a hive 
in readiness, slightly raised from its bottom-board in front. A 
sheet is spread in front of it. The limb on which the swarm is 
hanging may then be cut off and the swarm carried to the hive 
and shaken down on the sheet. By watching for the queer* 
she will be readily noticed and directed towards the hive. She 
will enter it eagerly for she loves darkness. The bees will then, 
crawl into the hive, and, finding the queen, be satisfied to re- 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



61 



main. When the bees are in, place the hive where it is to 
remain; a shaded position will be the best. If comb founda- 
tion (Fig. 67), be placed in the frames, it will be of very great 
advantage in comb-building. 

If the bees have clustered on a branch or twig, which is too 
valuable to be cut down, a basket will be quite essential, into 
which to shake or brush the bees. If on a wall or fence, or on 
the trunk of a tree, brush them into a basket, and proceed to 
hive as before described. A good swarm sack is shown in Fig. 58. 

A frame of brood and another of honey placed in the new 
hive will be of much advantage to the bees. The former will 




Fig. 44— Hiving the Swarm— A Swarm-Box. 

prevent the swarm from leaving the hive, and, should th.e queen 
be lost, it will give them the means of rearing another, and the 
latter will give them a good start. By filling the other frames 
with comb foundation (q. v.), they will soon be in good 
condition and perfectly at home in their new quarters. 

Sometimes a swarm will go the. woods without clustering — 
but this is rarely the case.. 

The beating of tin pans is, of course, of no avail; throwing 
a stream of water from a fountain pump is often done to bring 
down an absconding swarm, and cause them to alight and 
cluster. 



62 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



Artificial Increase 

As the apiarist does not always wish to wait upon the 
pleasure or whim of the bees to increase his apiary, methods 
have been devised for artificial increase, or by dividing colonies 
of bees. 

Queen-Rearing 

We have explained on another page when the colony be- 
comes queenless from any cause the workers at once proceed 
to rear another queen, provided they have eggs or larvae less 
than three days old. In order to make artificial increase it is 
first necessary to build queen-cells, if none of our colonies are 
preparing to swarm. It is only sufficient to remove the queen 
of a colony in order to compel them to build queen-cells and as 
shown in Fig. 43, they often build a large number. At the end 
of nine days, we are ready to use these cells. 

Nuclei 

The next thing is to make nuclei. These are made by 
taking two or more frames, as may be desired (at least one 
of which should contain brood), with adhering bees, and shak- 
ing into the hive the bees from one or more additional frames, 
so that there may be enough young bees to remain after the 
old bees have returned to their former hives, to keep the tem- 




Fig. 45— Plain Division-Board. 

perature sufficiently high to hatch out the brood, as well as'to 
care for the emerging queen. In making up nuclei be sure not 
to take away the queen with any of the frames. 

It is better to use the regular frames for nucleus hives, 
and either use the ordinary hives with a division-board (Fig. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



63 



45), to contract the brood-chamber, and economize the heat, or 
make small hives just to suit the number of frames used. 

These nuclei having been made on the ninth day after the 
starting of queen-cells, and in such number that there may be 
one queen-cell for each and one for the mother colony, we cut 
out these queen-cells on the tenth day, and insert one in each 
nucleus, in the manner shown in Fig. 12. The queens will hatch 
shortly after this, and we have saved the bees some labor and 
time. 




G. M. DOOLITTLE 
Author of "Scientific Queen-Rearing-," and a Well-Known Bee-Keeper. 

To cut a queen-cell out, commence on each side of the base 
of the cell, not nearer than half an inch, and cut upwards a 
wedge-shaped piece (see Fig. 12), being careful not to squeeze 
or even to handle the base of the cell. A similar wedge-shaped 
piece must be cut out of the frame of comb that it is desired to 
put the cell into. Then carefully place the cell into the hole 
thus made, fitting it securely in position; place the frame in 
the hive and close it up. 

As the virgin queen emerges from the nucleus to meet the 



64 BEES AND HONEY; OR 

drones, sometimes the bees will accompany her if they 'have no 
unsealed brood. To prevent this, two or three days after the 
queens are hatched, insert a frame containing eggs and young 
larvae in each nucleus. If the queen should be lost on her bridal 
tour, the materials will be on hand for the bees to rear another, 
if it is unnoticed by the apiarist. 

In two or three days the queen will be hatched, and a week 
or ten days later will become fertilized, and be laying; this 
may be readily discovered upon examination. Now the apiarist 
is ready for the formation of new colonies, without the incon- 
venience of natural swarming, by 

Dividing the Colonies 

Bees swarm because it is their natural manner of increase. 
By dividing them we secure the increase without swarming, and 
save time in watching and hiving natural swarms. This, how- 
ever, must not be overdone. The beginner sometimes imagines 
that by dividing he can make almost any number of colonies 
from each one, forgetting that strong colonies are the only ones 
that accomplish anything. Dividing should never be done un- 
less the colony be very populous, and can well spare the bees 
and combs. To double the number of colonies each season is 
not good, unless increase is desired at the expense of honey. 

Some divide their strong colonies equally, or nearly so, 
carefully looking for the queen, putting her into the new hive, 
placing bees and brood in the center, filling up with frames 
containing comb foundation (Fig. 67), removing the hive with 
the queen to a new location; leaving the queenless colony on 
the old stand, to rear for itself a queen from the brood it pos- 
sesses. If the queen be a choice one, and it is desired to get 
queens from her, it is a good plan to get the queen-cells 
started for the nuclei, as before described. 

Ordinarily, we prefer the nucleus plan of multiplying colo- 
nies. Take one of the nucleus hives before described (which 
should be of the same pattern and size as those to be divided), 
and remove the division-board. Then take a frame containing 
brood and adhering bees from each colony, placing them in the 
nucleus hive until it is. full. Be sure not to take the queen away 
from any colony. The bees that will hatch out in a few days 
will make that nucleus a populous colony. Put a frame filled 
with comb foundation (Fig. 67), into each hive from which 
the frame of brood was taken, and in a few days they will 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 65 

have this all worked out into beautiful comb; and, in all proba- 
bility, filled with eggs. . 

The new colony having a young and fertile queen, and 
plenty of bees, will soon rival the old one in the vigor of its 
work. Increase being secured in this way, none of the colonies 
are disturbed, and the bees everywhere "pursue the even tenor 
of their way." All being kept strong in numbers they are 
ready for the honey harvest, and will work in the section- 
boxes very willingly. 

Dividing should be done in the middle of the day, when the 
bees are busy in the fields and the yield of honey is abundant. 

Another plan practiced with success, is to take away the 
division-board in the nucleus, hive, fill the frames with comb 
foundation, and exchange places with a populous colony, caging 
the queen of the nucleus for about 36 hours, or until her ac- 
quaintance has been made by the strange bees that come pour- 
ing into it from the fields — for bees will always return to the 
exact spot occupied by their home. 

There are other and more elaborate methods of rearing 
queens and making artificial increase. Queen-rearing has be- 
come a specialty, and the apiarist who wishes to go into this 
business should read the special works on queen-rearing, es- 
pecially Doolittle's "Scientific Queen-Rearing." 

The apiarist who has but a few colonies and does riot 
wish to go to the trouble of rearing queens, may divide his 
strong colonies by shaking most of the bees and the queen into 
a new hive supplied with comb foundation, and placing this on 
the old stand, removing the old colony to a new place. This 
must not be done unless there are thousands of young bees 
hatching daily, for the old hive thus loses all its working force. 
A better plan yet is to make the increase of one colony out of 
two others by placing the queenless hive on the stand of a 
third colony, and putting this in a new spot. By this method 
you take the working bees from one colony and the brood 
of another to make one division. The greatest objection to 
allowing a colony to rear queens, which has been deprived of 
its working force, is that it may suffer from cool nights, and 
good queens can only be reared in strong colonies, at least up 
to the time of hatching. 

A colony which has been made queenless should always be 
watched from the 20th to the 25th day, as its queen should begin 
to lay about that time. It is a good plan to give such a 
colony a comb containing eggs and larvae, about the fifteenth 



66 bees and honey; or 

day, in case the queen should get lost, otherwise the bees 
would have no means of rearing another, and the colony might 
perish. Likewise a colony which has sent forth one or more 
swarms, should be examined later to make sure that the queen 
has not been lost on her wedding flight. Many a loss of colo- 
nies which has been ascribed to the moths was caused by 
queenlessness. The colony, having no longer any hatching bees, 
slowly becomes reduced in strength until the moths invade it 
and easily overpower it. 

To remember dates everyone has not the faculty, and yet 
all the operations of queen-rearing require that it should be 
done. For instance, the time when a choice colony was made 
queenless, to have queen-cells started — the time these cells are 




Fig. 46— Queen-Registering Slate. 

given to the nuclei — the time of hatching — when the queens 
commence to lay, etc. To save time and trouble in remember- 
ing these and other dates, a small slate (Fig. 46), 3x4 inches, 
with a hole in the center of the top, should be hung on the 
hive by a small nail, with all these dates, written thereon. A 
printed card tacked on to the inside of the hive-cover is used 
by some to advantage, in keeping track of such dates. 

The Loss of the Queen 

When the bees manifest a restless and uneasy disposition 
by running about the front of the hive and signaling each other, 
it is a sign that they have lost their queen, and they should be 
examined at once. 

Should a colony become queenless from any cause, three 
weeks may be gained by having an extra queen to give it at 
once. Upon examination, if no brood is found where the bees 
are clustering, the colony is queenless. At any time during 
the season, from March to October, this is a sure sign. Colo- 
nies that lose their queens during the winter have a forlorn 
appearance. The bees walk around the entrance listlessly and 
without eagerness; but few of t'hem go in search of either 
honey or pollen. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



67 



No time should 'be lost in giving a queenless colony a comb 
of eggs or young larvae, or both, from which to rear a queen. 
Sometimes such a colony will refuse to build queen-cells: it 
may be too weak; its queen may be too old to lay, or they 
may have laying workers. If it be too weak, it should be 
united with another colony. If its queen be old, she should 
be removed and the bees given a frame of brood from a pros- 
perous colony. If it has laying workers the most effective way 
to get rid of them is to break up the colony, dividing it among 
strong colonies having fertile queens. 

Worker-bees being undeveloped females, it is not strange 
that now and then one may be sufficiently developed to lay 
eggs. Some account for this by the possibility that the larva 




Fig. 47— The Ovaries of a Drone-Laying Worker-Bee. 



may have been adjacent to the queen-cell and received some 
of the royal pabulum, given so plentifully to the queen. 

Prof. Leuckart remarks that "it results entirely from the 
development of egg-germs and eggs in the individual ovarian 
tubes — which proceeds precisely in the manner described in the 
case of the queen." As they are incapable of meeting -the 
drones and becoming fully fertilized, their eggs will produce 
only drones. 

Fig. 47 presents a view of the genitals of such a bee. They 
differ from the ovaries of the queen in the less advanced de- 
velopment. Compare the ovaries a a with those of the queen 
in Fig. 3. 

The drone-laying workers deposit eggs in a very irregular 
manner, sometimes two or more in a cell. 



68 bees and honey: or 



Improvement in Honey-Bees 

To obtain the best results we must possess the highest 
grade of bees that it is possible to obtain. Our object being 
to elevate the race, no deterioration should be countenanced, 
and the most thorough and rigid treatment must be employed, 
all looking to the building up of a strain of bees that will 
give the best of results. 

The queen must be prolific to be able to keep the hive full 
of bees, to gather the honey harvest when it comes; the bees 
must be industrious to let nothing escape their vigorous search 
while gathering the sweet nectar; they must be docile to allow 
the apiarist to manipulate them with ease and pleasure; they 
must be strong and hardy, to withstand the rapid change in 
climate; and must be of singular beauty, to attract the admira- 
tion of the fancier of fine stock. 

"The bee of the future" will be present at the very moment 
when the slumbering flower, under the penetrating dew, awakes 
to consciousness, and unfolds its buds to take in the first rays 
of the morning sun. The ideal bee will dip into that tiny foun- 
tain, which distills the nectar drop by drop, and bear off its 
honeyed treasure to its cells of virgin comb. 

In developing the highest strain of horses, not all their 
offspring are equal to the best; careful selection of those com- 
ing the nearest to the ideal animal must always be chosen, 
from which to breed, and the closest scrutiny is necessary while 
making that selection. The same is true of cattle, sheep, hogs, 
poultry, and bees. "Sports" and "variations" continually oc- 
cur, producing inferior progeny; but all careful breeders who 
have an eye to the improvement of the race, will reject those 
that do not come up to the "standard of excellence," sending 
such animals and poultry to the shambles — so let us carefully 
select the best queens and drones to breed from, and remorse- 
lessly sacrifice all others. 

In searching for the best bees, we have tried and discarded 
the Dalmatian, Smyrnian, Herzegovinian and the Egyptian. In 
1866, two eminent Germans, Count Kolowrat and Hern Cori, 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



69 



and 



imported the first Cyprian bees into Europe, but to Italj 
America belong the honor of putting forth the greatest exer 



tions to produce the best bees in the world. Did not Sign 
J. Fiorini, an Italian, make a journey to the Island of Cypi 
and to Palestine in search of Cyprian and Syrian bees, to i 



or 
rus 
im- 



prove the race of Italian bees in crossi 

if 



g, or to improve those 




Fig 48— Tongue of the Honey-Bee (magnified). 
A, Tongue extended; B, Ligula, sheath extended; C, Cross section of ligula 

races by careful breeding? Mr. D. A. Jones, of Canada, also 
journeyed to the Island of Cyprus and to Palestine, for the 
same object; he secured many colonies of Syrian bees, and 
established an apiary in Cyprus, in charge of Mr. Frank Ben- 
ton, a brave and fearless American, who (to his honor be it 
stated) has journeyed through Arabia, India, Ceylon, and the 



JO BEES AND HONEY J OR 

East Indies, and in the face of 'danger and difficulties untold, 
in search of some superior race of bees, or some that may be 
improved by judicious breeding. 

The length of the tongue (Fig. 48) of the honey-bee is an 
important matter in her make-up, as there are some blossoms, 
such as the red clover, which have so long a corolla that the 
average bee cannot reach their nectar. The Cyprian bee is 
said to have a longer tongue than other races, but its cross 
disposition renders it unfit for general domestication. The 
Italians have often furnished strains that harvested nectar from 
red clover during the second crop of that plant, and, in very 
dry seasons, from the first crop. For that reason, we strongly 
recommend the Italians over any other race. But prolificness, 
gentleness and honey-producing qualities should be considered, 
and we should at all times breed from the best. 

The Italian Bees 

Briefly stated, their superiority is thus demonstrated: 

1. They have longer tongues and gather honey from flow- 
ers where black bees cannot. 

2. They are more industrious and persevering, and with 
the same opportunity will gather much more than black bees. 




Fig. 4Q— Italian Queen. 

3. They work earlier and later in the day, as well as in the 
season, often gathering stores when the blacks are idle. 

4. They are better to guard their hives against robbers, 
and against the ravages of the bee-moth's larvae. 

5. They are more prolific in the spring. 

6. Queens adhere more tenaciously to the comb. 

7. They are amiable, and it is easy to manipulate tjhem. 
There are other races of bees whiclh are desirable, and 

among them we will mention the Caucasian and the Carniolan, 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



71 



but as both of these races are of about the same color as the 
common bee, it is almost impossible to ascertain whether we 
have them in their purity. As the Italian worker-bees have 
three yellow rings on their abdomen, a fhixture with the com- 
mon or black bee is easily distinguished. 

Italianizing an Apiary 

To do this, a tested Italian queen (Fig. 49), should be ob- 
tained from some reliable dealer or breeder, and introduced 




Fig. 50— Gentle Italians— The Little Girl is Pointing to the Queen. 

into one of the best colonies of the apiary. For, as the queen 
is the mother of the colony, to change queens is to change the 
whole character of the colony in a short space of time. 



• To Introduce a Queen 

successfully it will be necessary to find the queen to be super- 
seded, and take her away. A black queen being easily fright- 



72 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



ened, will hide or run away to some corner, therefore it is best 
to proceed cautiously and witlhout jarring. 

In the middle of the day, when the old bees are at work, 
open the hive, taking out the center frame, examine both sides, 




Fig. 51— Cage for Mailing Queen-Bees. 

and if the queen is not there, proceed with the adjacent frames 
till s'he is found. If not successful the first time, close the 
hive an hour or two, till the bees become quiet, and then repeat 
the operation. An Italian queen would be easily found, but the 
blacks are more troublesome. When found, either destroy her 
or make such other disposition of her as may be desired; cage 
the Italian queen and insert it in the center of the brood- 
chamber between two combs containing honey, which the queen 
may be able to reach at pleasure. 

The cages in which queens are mailed by queen-breeders all 
over the country, and especially in the South, are quite con- 
venient to introduce queens. Those cages (Fig. 51), contain 




Fig. 52— Miller Queen-Introducing Cage. 



candy, and the queen is usually released by removing the stop- 
per which gives the bees access to her by eating through the 
candy within the course of a day or two. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



73 



Transferring and Uniting Bees 

Transferring bees from box-hives is not so common as it 
was fifty years ago, for very few bees are now hived in boxes 
or "gums." Still it is necessary to give a word of advice in 
case of need. The best time for this is during fruit-bloom, 
when the hives are not yet overrunning with bees, and are light 




Fig. 53— Cutting Down a Bee-Tree, as in Old Times -Four Gallons of Honey- 



in honey. A good day should be selected when the bees are at 
work on the bloom, as there is consequently no robbing. 

After smoking the bees at the entrance of a box-hive, re- 
move it some distance from the old stand, leaving an empty 
hive or box in its place, to receive the bees that return from 
the fields; invert the hive, place an empty box or hive over it, 



74 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



of t<he same size and shape, wrapping a sheet or cloth around 
where they come together, leaving no cracks large enough for 
a bee to escape. By smartly tapping the hive for some time 
most of the bees, with the queen, will enter the upper box. 
When they have nearly all left the hive, place the upper box 




Fig. 54— Cutting the Combs to Fit a Frame. 



with the bees on the old stand. Being alarmed and filled with 
honey, they may be handled without fear. 

The old hive may now be removed to a convenient room 
or building, and taken to pieces, by cutting off the nails with 
a cold-chisel and prying off the ends, cutting the combs when 
taken out as near as possible to the size of the frames to 
be used. 

It is well to lay a frame over the combs spread upon a 
large board, so as to cut them to fit exactly. (Fig. 54). 

Previous to this work, the apiarist should, have prepared 
a number of wires of proper lengtlh to be fastened by a bent 
end into the top and bottom bars of the frames. A number 
of these wires (Fig. 55), are driven on one side of a number 
of frames, and the frames, one at a time, laid, wire side down, 
on the board. Then the comb is fitted in and other wires 
nailed on top. The frame with the brood has then the appear- 
ance of the one in Fig. 56. But this cut shows the work done 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



75 



with twine instead of wire. Twine stretches, and does no<- 
hold the comb as stiff as wire. A previous edition of this 
book advised the use of sticks fastened with wire. The method 
we give 'here is much the best. 

No drone-comb or drone-brood should be transferred. 
The bees will always have too much. (Chickens will eat the 



Fig. 55— Bent Wire to Fasten Comb in Transferring. The ends are driven 
in the upper and lower edge of the Frame. 

brood of these). The worker-brood, of course, should be 
transferred so as to occupy a central position in the frames, as 
is natural in the hive. The honey is placed in the rear of the 
combs. 

Carry the new hive to the old stand,^ and empty the bees 
out of the box on a sheet, in front of the hive. See that the 
queen, as well as all the bees, enter it. To prevent robbing, 




Fig. 56— Appearance of the Transferred Comb. 



the entrance should be contracted; and in a week, when the 
bees have fastened the combs, the transferring wires should 
be removed. Always work slowly with the bees, and avoid 
jarring. 



j6 BEES AND HONEY; OR 

Uniting Weak Colonies 

Weak colonies may be united after smoking them well, by 
removing the combs with adhering bees and placing them to- 
gether in one hive, spraying them with peppermint water by 
an atomizer to give them all tftie same scent. Give them ven- 
tilation and reduce thhe entrance till sunset, placing them 
where the stronger of the two colonies stood. The poorer one 
of the queens should be removed. 

Put a slanting board in front of the hive, Which will cause 
the bees to mark their home anew. On the third day remove 
the board from the front. No hive should occupy the old 
stand, from which the queen and bees were removed, for sev- 
eral days. 

Clipping the Queen's Wing 

This is done to prevent her from leaving with a swarm. 
In attempting to fly she will fall to the ground in front of the 
hive, and the bees, missing her, will return to the hive. This 
must not be done until after rJhe queen has met the drone, or 
she will remain unfertile. To perform the operation, open the 
hive and lift the frame carefully, and avoid jars; when the 
queen is seen — with a pair of sharp-pointed scissors, lift one of 
the front wings and cut off about one-half of it. To pick her 
up, be sure not to take iher by the abdomen. She may be held 
by the wings or the thorax without danger. 

Removing Bees from the Combs or Frames 

In the manipulation it is often necessary to remove the 
bees from the combs. The following is the "shaking off 
process" as practiced and recommended by Mr. G. M. Doo- 

little: 

"Place the ends of the frame on the ends of the two middle 
fingers of each hand, and then, with a quick upward stroke, 
throw the ends of the frame against the ball, or thick part of 
the hand, at the base of the thumb. As the frame strikes the 
hand, let the hands give a sudden downward motion, which 
makes the shock still greater. As the frame strikes the fingers 
again, it is thrown back against the hand, and so on till all, 
or nearly all, of the bees are off. The principle is that the bee 
is on her guard all the while to keep from falling off, thus 
holding on tenaciously so as not to be easily shaken off. By 
the sudden stopping of the upward, and a quick downward mo- 
tion, the bees are thrown off their guard and dislodged from 
the comb, I do not remember ever having broken a comb by 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING "ft 

shaking it, as here described. Now, if we disturb the Italians, 
causing them to fill themselves with honey, they can then be 
shaken from the combs about as easily as black bees. But 




Fig. 57— Whisk-Broom for Brushing the Bees off the Combs. 

even if we cannot afford time to wait till they are filled with 
honey, four-fifths of them can be shaken off." 

The remainder may be brushed off without trouble by 
using a whisk-broom (Fig. 57). Vegetable fibre irritates bees 




Fig. 58— Swarm-Sack. 



less than animal matter. Therefore a fibre broom is preferable 
to a quill or a goose-wing. 



yg BEES AND HONEY; OR 



Wintering and Feeding Bees 

In our Northern countries bees are wintered out-doors, and 
also in cellars or underground repositories. In localities south 
of the 40th degree, it is best to winter them entirely outdoors, 
because the proportion of warm days is great enough to allow 
them to take fligiht from time to time, and cellars, as a rule, 
are too warm on continued warm days. But in locations sit- 
uated about the 42d degree, or north of this, it is best to put 
the bees away in good cellars. Between these two latitudes, 
the bee-keeper must take his choice of indoor or outdoor win- 
tering, according to the facilities that he has at his command. 

Cellar- Wintering 

All the best apicultural authorities of the present day, as 
well as those who have gone before, give the following as 
absolute requisites for safe wintering: 

1. An even temperature ranging from 42 to 45 . 

2. Complete expulsion or absorption of moisture from the 
body of the hive. 

3. Perfect freedom from outward disturbances. 

4. Protection from frost. 

5. Protraoted isolation from atmospheric changes in 
spring. 

6. Exclusion of light. 

7. Sufficient stores for winter consumption. 

'It is generally admitted that with these seven contingencies 
provided for, there will be no hazard in wintering, and it is 
further admitted, that no plan so far practiced combines all 
these essentials at all times. 

The first step in this direction is, to be assured that the 
cellar is sufficiently warm to prevent the freezing of potatoes, 
apples, etc., and provided with sufficient ventilation to allow 
the escape from it of noxious gases and heat generated by the 
bees. It is wisdom to provide a means of letting in cold air 
from the outside, should occasion require. Although when un- 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 79 

occupied the cellar may be at a mean temperature of 40 F., 
if 100 colonies be placed in it they would soon generate suffi- 
cient animal heat to run the mercury up to 50 , or even more. 
The bee-apartment should be separate, if possible, and not so 
situated as to be subject to constant invasions by individuals 
or vermin. 

The covers should be removed from the hives, one or two 
thicknesses of woolen or cotton cloth — or old carpets — spread 
, over the frames, two or three inc'h-square sticks laid cross- 
wise of the hive, and the next one set on top and treated the 
same way, proceeding thus till all are neatly and carefully piled 
up. This work should not be done till fall is so far advanced 
that the bees will be quite c'hilled, and exhibit but little activ- 
ity, when slightly disturbed. Of course, too much care cannot 
be exercised to do all your work gently, and if you can do so 
without the bees knowing they are being moved, it will be much 
better. 

'When all are nicely piled away, darken every nook and 
crack, so that should the bees venture to the entrance of the 
hives, they might think it a perpetual night. At least every 
fortnight enter your bee-apartment with a dark lantern, and 
satisfy yourself that all progresses favorably. If the thermom- 
eter indicates above 45° F., admit cold air at night; if below 
40 F., partly close the escape, to bring the mercury up to the 
desired temperature. Be certain, before winter has come, that 
all are provided with thirty pounds each of good honey, and 
then they are ready for a four months' repose. 

To remove them, in spring, from the cellar, select a warm 
day in March, when the first soft maple trees open their blos- 
soms. Take the bees out of the cellar early in the day. If 
you have left the cover of each hive on the summer stand, and 
you have your hives numbered, it will not be difficult to replace 
them in the exact position they occupied before winter. Some 
people say that it does not make any difference, but the writer 
knows positively of two instances when some of the bees re- 
membered their location of the previous fall, and went back 
to it. However, if you wish to put your hives in a new loca- 
tion, this is really. the best time to do it, especially if you wish 
to move them only a few feet away from where they stood 
previously, as most of them will have forgotten the old location. 

Wintering bees in bee-houses is not safe unless the wall of 
the house is made so thick as to be proof against the changes 
of temperature. In a room where the thermometer rises to 60 



go 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



or 70 degrees the bees will 'become restless even if kept in the 
dark, and many of them will perish. 

Wintering Bees in Clamps 

'Mr. M. Quinby favored wintering bees by burying, which 
is practiced by some at the present day. The mode is to dig 

a trench in a hillside or ground with sufficient slope to insure 
drainage. This is partly filled in with straw, on which the 
hives are placed; boards are slanted up in front; wooden tubes 
placed in position to ventilate the pit; straw thrown on the 




Fig. 59— Hives Under the Snow. 

hives, over which boards are laid lengthwise; and dirt piled 
over all to turn off the water. 



Outdoor Wintering 

For outdoor wintering fully as much honey is needed as 
for indoor, or perhaps a little more. The bees will consume 
more Ihoney to keep warm, and will breed earlier than if kept 
in the cellar, but they will also be strong earlier in the season, 
if there has been no loss. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 8l 

Shelter your hives well from the wind on the north and 
west sides. Place over the brood-combs an empty super which 
you will fill with a sack full of leaves or chaff. We use a 
straw mat over the frames, and over this place forest leaves. 
If you have but a few hives, and have old woolen carpets, cut 
these of proper size to cover the frames in several thicknesses, 
and put on the cover. There must be a sufficient ventilation 
from below, and moisture absorbents above, without loss .of 
heat. Sheds and house-apiaries, which most good bee-keep- 
ers dislike in summer on account of the discomfort of work- 
ing within, are a benefit in winter. If the bees can be placed 
in a shed which is kept entirely open in front during the sum- 
mer, and closed in winter, except on warm days, they have 
an ideal place to winter bees, especially if it faces south. Some 



Fig. 60— -Teles coping- Winter-Case. 

hives are made with double walls and chaff packing between 
the two. These are rather expensive, but give good satis- 
faction. 

Winter-cases, which telescope over the hives (Figs. 59 and 
60), are also very serviceable. The advantage of these is that 
they may be removed when spring comes so as to let the rays 
of the sun shine directly upon the hive-body. 

'Tn all cases of packing on the summer stand, a passage- 
way should be made through each comb, a little above and 
back of the center, or three-quarter inch square sticks be laid 
over the tops of the frames, to 1 afford the bees a passage from 
comb to comb, to reach their stores without going to the ex- 
treme ends of the frames to pass around. 

For wintering on summer stands, all preparations should 



82 



BEES AND HONEY! OR 



be made early enough in the fall to admit of ample feeding in 
case of a scarcity of stores, as they cannot often be fed after- 
ward without great disturbance. 

Feeding Bees 

Feeding early in the spring is advisable to stimulate breed- 
ing, and keep the colony strong, so that when the early bloom 
oomes it may be strong enough to gather the delicious nectar. 
Whenever there is any necessity for it, feeding pays; especially 
in the fall, before preparing for winter, if their stores are in- 
sufficient, feed them; each colony should have at least thirty 
pounds of good capped honey. 

Extracted honey of your own crop, or granulated sugar 
reduced to the consistency of honey, is best for feeding, in the 




Fig. 6i— Division-Board Bee-Feeder. 



absence of good sealed honey. The poor grades of sugar and 
glucose are totally unfit for feeding bees. To stimulate in the 
spring, one-half of a pound per day is all-sufficient for a 
colony. 

Foreign >or unknown honey s'hould never be fed to bees, 
as it may contain the germs of foul brood (q. v.), while ap- 
parently nice and sound. 

AM sorts of feeders are manufactured. The division-board 
feeder (Fig. 61) which is hung in the hive in place of one of 
the frames is very practical, the only danger being of bees 
drowning in- it in their eagerness to reach the food. To prevent 
this, a light strip is allowed to float over the liquid. It is 
also well to have a bunch of grass or hay so placed in it that 
the bees may crawl up on it. If easy means of access are 
given they will clean up all the feed as quickly as possible. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



83 



The Miller feeder (Fig. 62) is used in the super. Other 
feeders are placed in the bottom-board. 

A very good and inexpensive feeder is made by using an 
ordinary fruit tin-can. The top is entirely removed, the can 
is filled with syrup and a piece of muslin is tied over the top. 
The can is then inverted on a dish across two small cleats. 
At first the syrup runs freely, but the atmospheric pressure 
prevents its continual leaking, and if it is given to the bees 
over the brood-combs near the center of the brood-nest, it is 
in the easiest place of access for them. A honey-board may 
be used) in which the can will fit exactly, so as not to allow of 
any loss of heat. We have used as many as five of these at one 
time, on a populous colony in seasons of great scarcity, for 
winter supply. After a few diays the cans are removed, and it 
will be found that the bees have even gnawed holes in the 
muslin and cleaned the cans entirely. 

To make syrup for winter feed use twenty pounds of sugar 
for each gallon of water. Mix the sugar with the water at the 




Fig. 62-MiIler Feeder. 



Alexander Bottom Feeder. 



boiling point. Add a little honey (four or five pounds) if 
you have any which you know to be healthy. 

For spring feeding, as the bees need watery food for 
breeding, you may make the syrup a little thinner. Serve it 
warm, especially in spring. 

Home-made sugar-candy, commonly known as "fudge," is 
very good to sustain colonies which have been neglected, to 
be given them at a time when the weather is too cold for 
them to store syrup. This "fudge" is made by heating about 
four parts of sugar with one part of water until it becomes 
thick enough. Stir it to prevent burning. When thick enough 
pour it on sheets of light paper. Give it to the bees over the 
brood-combs. It may be fed even to cellar-wintered bees, 
and they cluster on it as they would on combs of honey. 



8 4 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



Handling and Quieting Bees 

The bee-sting is composed of three distinct parts, of which 
the sheath forms one. These three parts join near the edges, 
and form a tube which, viewed sectionally, has the shape of 
a triangle, the angles being rounded off. 

The other two parts constitute the sting proper, and in a 
sectional view are semi-circular (Fig. 63), the upper edges 




Fig. 63— Sectional View of a Bee-Sting. 

being thicker than the lower ones, and squared to each other, 
one of the edges having a projection extending along the 
under or inner portion of it, thereby forming a rabbet along 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 85 

which the opposite part freely moves. The under or inner 
edge of each of these parts tapers down to extreme thinness, 
while near the termination of the edge there runs a minute 
groove which corresponds with the ridge mentioned in the 
description of the sheath, and along which the parts move 
freely. Each of these parts properly tapers down to an exceed- 
ingly fine point. Near the point begins the barbs (Fig. 63), 
which in some stings number as many as ten, extending along 
the sting nearly one-half its length, and are well-defined. It 
may happen that one or both of the chief parts of the sting 
are left in the wound when the sheath is withdrawn, but are 
rarely perceived on account of their minuteness, the person 
stung at the same time congratulating himself that the sting 
has been extracted. 

On being stung, brush the bee and the sting away as 
promptly as possible, because by so doing you may prevent 



Fig. 64— Bee-Smoker. 

most of the poison from emptying itself into the wound. The 
muscles which surround the sting have a spasmodic action, 
which causes pressure of the poison-sack and a deeper driving 
of the sting into the flesh. It is therefore a great mistake to 
hesitate in promptly pressing off the bee and sting with a 
sweeping motion which forces the sting and poison-sack 
away from the spot. 

Smoke is harmless and is the best thing to alarm and quiet 
bees. With a good smoker (Fig. 64), blow a little smoke in 



86 bees and honey; or 

at the entrance before opening the hive. Give them a little 
more as you uncover the frames; if very cross repeat the dose, 
until they yield obedience; then they may be handled with 
safety. Handle them gently and without fear, avoiding all 
quick motions; such usually incite them to anger. When 
honey is being stored rapidly, Italians may be handled with- 
out smo'ke; when there is a scarcity it is not safe to do so. 

To those who are commencing, and until familiarity causes 
the loss of fear, a pair of good gauntlet gloves and a veil are 
necessary, but after fear has been overcome, a good veil will 




Fig. 65-Bee-Veil. 

be sufficient. Such may be placed over a hat, the bottom of it 
coming down under the coat or vest, and when thus adjusted 
it is a complete protection for the neck and face (Fig. 65). 

A pair of gauntlet rubber gloves is best for those who need 
such protection, while unaccustomed to manipulating bees. 
The advanced apiarist prefers to have the free use of his 
hands at all times. Bees when gorged with honey are very 
peaceable; when often handded they become accustomed to the 
practice, and when this is gently done, they will scarcely notice 
the disturbance. 

A Hive-Tool Necessary 

Among the very few and inexpensive implements which 
are necessary in the management of an apiary, we must include 
the "Ideal Hive Tool;" this implement (Fig. 66) is necessary 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 87 

to pry the frames apart, or the different stories of a hive when 
opening them, since they are always more or less glued to- 
gether by propolis. It is also handy to scrape away bur- 
combs that are often built by the bees, when the hive is 



Exactly half actual size. 



Fig. 66— Ideal Hive-Tool. 



crowded, between the combs or between the different stories. 
These bur-combs, when removed, should be rolled into a ball 
anji kept until the time comes for rendering beeswax. 



Plan for an Apiary 

Decide upon a plan for an apiary, and then make it beauti- 
ful. Of all mankind, bee-keepers should admire the beautiful 
— and we really think they do. Italian bees are beautiful to 
look upon, and sip nectar from the loveliest flowers, hiding it 
in dainty cells of matchless beauty and virgin whiteness. What 
is there, in all Creation, so soul-inspiring as a cultivated garden 
of Nature's flowers, of variegated hues and heavenly grandeur? 
None but the unfortunate or despondent can fail to enjoy 
Nature in her garb of beauty, decked by the bounteous hand of 
Deity. To produce a garden of living gorgeousness we may 
all aspire, and long enjoy its gratifying results. 



Adopt a Standard Frame 

Adopt one of the standard hives, and then scrupulously 
adhere to its use — for all the hives in one apiary should be 
alike, and the frames and all other parts interchangeable, in 
order to give the best results. Number conspicuously every 
hive — either with a stencil plate, or by painting large white 
figures on them. 



88 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



Keep an Apiary Register 

Obtain an Apiary Register for at least one-hundred colo- 
nies; then you have room to ad)d all swarms and keep the 
record all in one book. The two opposite pages are to be num- 
bered to correspond with the number on the hive. This can be 
referred to instantly, and should contain a full history of the 
colony. By its careful and constant use your bees may be 
improved, their most valuable qualities developed, and the 
products of the apiary be greatly enlarged. Should a queen 
lack any desirable quality you will in this way soon discover it, 
and can supersede her. In this "Register" let all the important 
facts he noted, and by its complete history of each colony you 
may systematize all your work, lay it out in advance, save con- 
fusion, and inaugurate the best methods and management. 




Apiary of M M. Baldridge, in Kane County, Illinois. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



89 



Comb Foundation and Its Use 



The Bee-hive is an emblem of industry, and the perfection 
of its government is truly marvelous! When we view the 
skill exhibited in the building of the beautiful comb — so true 
in form, so wonderfully systematic in construction, and all 
completed by a crowd of bees in a dark hive — and often at 
night, we are amazed at the skill of these wonderful little 
architects! Think of their wonderfully delicate cells of wax, 
only 180th part of an inch in thickness, made without the aid 




CHAS. DADANT, 

Reviser of " Langstroth on the Honey-Bee," and an authority in both 
Europe and America. — (1817-1902.) 

of rules, angles or plumb lines — and yet one ounce of this deli- 
cate work will contain a pound of honey, of sufficient strength 
to be transported thousands of miles without injury, with but 
ordinary care. Contemplate the perfection of these cells. A 
noted German aptly puts it thus: 



90 BEES AND HONEY; OR 

"The cells of bees are found to fulfill perfectly the most 
subtle conditions of an intricate mathematical problem. Let it 
be required to find what shape a given quantity of matter must 
take in order to have the greatest capacity and strength, occu- 
pying at the same time the least space, and consuming the least 
labor in its construction. When this problem is solved by the 
most refined mathematical process, the answer is, the hexag- 
onal, or six-sided cell, of the honey-bee, with its three four- 
sided figures at the base." 

As the bases exactly fit into one another from opposite 
sides, and 1 the insects work on both sides at the same time, in 
what language did they communicate the proportions to be 
observed, while making these bases, common to the cells on 
opposite sides? (Fig. 66^). 

We have explained that the bees consume from seven to 
fifteen pounds of honey to build one pound of comb, accord- 
ing to the season, the warmth of the hive, and the strength of 



Fig. 66^— Bases and Cross-Sections of Cells. 

the colony. It is very evident that the amount varies much, 
and the comparison may be made of this wax-production with 
the production of fat in animals. Although wax is a fatty sub- 
stance, it cannot, however, be called "the fat" of the honey- 
bee, but being produced at the expense of their nutrition, it is 
secreted in greater or less quantity; according to the more or 
less favorable circumstances in which the bees find themselves. 
It is therefore probable that a rule cannot be established as to 
the cost of wax any more than can be given as to the cost of 
producing fat in our cattle. But starting from the amounts 
given above, we can safely assert that combs cost the bees, 
on an average, not less than ten pounds of honey for each 
pound of comb produced, including the time lost in elaborating 
it. If honey is worth fifteen cents per pound, comb therefore 
costs the bees the equivalent of one dollar and a half per 
pound. From this we may know the value of comb foundation, 
made from pure beeswax and returned to the bees, 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



91 



This comb foundation was first invented in Germany ani 
made from plates, by Mehring; and Mr. W. M. Hoge, in 1874, 
assisted Mr. Frederick Weiss, an aged German, then living 
in New York, to introduce it to American bee-keepers. In 
1875 Mr. Newman visited both of these gentlemen in New 
York, and obtained some of the first sheets produced. This 
poor old German afterward lived in Chicago, and often visited 
the office of the "American Bee Journal." Being poor, old 
and crippled with rheumatism, he sought refuge in the Cook 
County (Illinois) Poor House, and there died many years ago. 

Comb foundation (Fig. 67) consists of sheets of beeswax, 
formed by dipping wooden plates into melted wax, or by dif- 
ferent other processes too complicated to be explained here, 
some of which consist in making endless sheets of the mate- 
rial which are rolled up in a manner similar to the rolling of 




Fig. 67— Comb Foundation. 



paper for printing on cylinder presses. The sheets of bees- 
wax are afterwards printed with the rudiments of the cells, 
by running them through rollers or mills indented with the 
exact shape of worker-cells, and afterwards cut the proper 
size for frames or sections. 

It would be tedious to review all the various styles of 
foundation presented to bee-keepers since it was first intro- 
duced in America, and the claims of the many machines now 
upon the market for its manufacture. We have had foundation 
with triangular-shaped cells, with flat-bottomed cells, with high 
side-walls, and with no walls at all; with linen, cotton, wood, 
paper, tin-foil and woven-wire for a base; while latterly, we 
have had foundation with fine wire imbedded therein, and 
frames of foundation with wire pressed therein. 

Experience has shown that the foundation which has the 
thinnest base is the best. The bees thin it out still more, and 
shape it to suit themselves, however retaining the original base 



92 BEES AND HONEY ; OR 

given them. For brood-combs, sheets measuring about six 
square feet to the pound prove best, as the bees find in them 
almost enough wax to build the entire comb, especially if it 
is given them a little ahead of need, at a time when they have 
leisure to manipulate it and draw it out. The experiments of 
Foloppe Freres, of Champosoult, France, have proven that in 
drawing out the foundation into comb, the bees manipulate the 
wax in the same way that the potter handles clay to make a 




Fig. 68— Comb Foundation Mill. 

vase, by a "repoussage" which forces the wax towards the 
outer edge of the cell in a circular way. This is another evi- 
dence of the bees' intelligence, for the cells are thereby made 
much stronger than if the drawing of the wax had been made 
towards the outer edge without any circular manipulation. In 
the same manner, if the potter had made his vase by pushing 
the clay outwar4 without the circular rotation, the vase would 
break much more readily. 

Figs. 69 and 70 show the section of a sheet of medium 
comb foundation as given to the bees and as worked by them 
out of the wax it contains, a, b, and d, show the manner in 
which the work is begun, continuing and forcing out the wax 
towards the edge through the different shapes assumed con- 
seutively at c, e, f, and g. 

For surplus honey, in the sections, very thin sheets of 
comb foundation are supplied to the bees, and of the very best 
grade of light-colored beeswax, for it is important that the 
combs should be thin and avoid the "fish-bone" toughness of 
a heavy artificial midrib. As light sheets as 13 and 14 square 
feet to the pound are now used in sections. 

As we have already stated, the foundation measuring about 
six square feet to the pound, is best for brood-combs. Experi- 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



93 



ments have proven that between five and a quarter and six 
feet to the pound is sufficient to supply the bees with all the 
material needed to build the entire comb, the cells being after- 
wards sealed, when needed, with naturally produced wax. (Fig. 

7i.) 

The advantages derived from the use of comb foundation 
are three-fold. In the first place, as we have said before, bees- 



Fig. 6q— Cross-Section of a sheet of foundation— natural size. 

Fig. 70— Cross-section of a sheet of foundation in process of construction 

by the bees— natural size. 

(By Foloppe Freres; taken from " L'Apiculteur," of Paris.) 



wax costs the bees a probable average of ten pounds of honey 
per pound of comb. Beeswax when rendered has an approxi- 
mate value of from twenty-five to thirty-five cents per pound. 
The same article made into comb foundation costs at retail 



94 bees and honey; or 

from fifty to seventy-five cents per pound. Counting our honey 
at only twelve cents, there is almost a doubling of the invest- 
ment by buying comb foundation and saving the bees all this 
labor. 

The second advantage, which is equally important, re- 
sides in giving the bees guides from which to work. Before 
the advent of comb foundation, guides of different kinds were 
devised to compel the bees to build straight in the center of the 




Fig. 71— One side of sheet of Foundation drawn into Comb. The Cells 
were made entirely from the Foundation supplied. The cap- 
pings alone have been made of natural wax supplied by 
the workers, as shown by the lighter lines. — (By 
Foloppe Freres, from " L'Apiculteur," 
of Paris — magnified.) 

frames or sections. But in spite of all efforts, the combs were 
often crooked or wavy, and irregular. With the use of comb 
foundation we secure our combs "as straight as a board" in 
every frame and every section. This alone would suffice to 
make comb foundation a blessing to the apiarist. No more 
crooked combs, no more leaking honey in handling, hence very 
much reduced danger of robbing. 

The third advantage is almost as great as the other two. 
In natural conditions the bees build about ten percent of 
drone-comb (a, Fig. 72). This is necessary in a state of nature, 
when colonies are far apart and the queens in their wedding 
flight need to meet drones readily. But as only one drone is 
actually able to do service for one colony, the numerous 
drones of one first-class colony are quite sufficient for fifty 
or more colonies in one apiary. Hence it is advisable to do 
away with drone-comb as much .as possible. By the use of 
comb foundation, made with worker-cell bases, we secure this 
result. Large sheets of drone-comb are dispensed with and 
replaced by worker-comb. We must not depend upon the bees 
to do this, but when we remove drone-comb we must use 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



95 



foundation in its place. There will always be plenty of drones 
reared in corners where the wax was short, or in cells that be- 
come enlarged by accident. One or two colonies with plenty 
of drones will be all we need, and we may select them to suit 
ourselves, and give them the drone-comb right in the center, 
if we choose. 

The annual saving by the prevention of rearing a horde 
of useless consumers through the use of worker-comb founda- 
tion is, in our opinion, sufficient to pay for the initial cost of 
this foundation. 

The reader will readily comprehend by the above expla- 
nation why the business of comb-foundation manufacture has 




Fig. 72— Honey-Comb. 
a, Drone-Comb; b. Intermediate Cells; c, Worker-Comb; d. Queen-Cells. 



gained in importance. It is a product that every bee-keeper 
needs, and he quickly realizes this. 

Comb foundation must be made of absolutely pure bees- 
wax. Its tenacity at certain temperatures; its malleability at 
blood heat, which is the heat of the hive, make its adulteration 
by any other compound absolutely undesirable. The bees 
themselves know their product from all other compounds, and 
adulterations of comb foundation with similar products in min- 
eral or vegetable waxes have always proven an entire failure. 



96 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



Fastening Comb Foundation 

In Fig. 20 has been given the method of fastening comb 
foundation to the frames. For hiving swarms, full sheets are 




Fig. 73— Wire Imbedder. 

also sometimes' fastened additionally with wires, and we here 
exhibit the method (Fig. 73). The little instrument used is 
called a "wire imbedder." The wire is first placed in the 
frames, then the foundation is inserted as in Fig. 20, and at 




Fig. 74— The Parker Foundation Fastener. 

last the imbedder forces the wire into the wax. For section- 
boxes the Parker fastener is used, which presses the wax on 
the underside of the top-bar (Fig. 74). 

More elaborate machines are made which both fold the 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 97 

section and place the foundation strip in it at one operation. 
For the practical apiarist such contrivances are very useful. 
The beginner will find them advertised in the different cata- 
logs of dealers in bee-keepers' supplies. 

Preserve the Wax 

The use of comb foundation bids fair to exhaust all the 
available beeswax in the country; every bit of wax and old 
combs should therefore be preserved. A wax-extractor (Figs. 
75 and 76) will soon pay for itself. By its use all the old 
comb and the cappings may be saved, utilized, and restored to 



Fig. 75— Wax-Extractor. Fig. 76-Hershiser Wax-Press 

the bees in comb foundation to be worked out into beautiful 
comb, forming either the cradle of bees or the receptacle of 
immaculately-pure honey. 

Fig. 76 represents the best wax-extractor yet produced. 
It is the Hershiser wax-press, composed of layers of burlap in 
which the combs are placed with division racks between them 
and subjected to pressure as the wax melts in boiling water. 

Rendering Combs into Beeswax 

Soft water should be used in melting wax. Iron utensils 
are objectionable. The iron rust colors the wax, and spoils 



98 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



the appearance of it in a permanent way. Tin or tinned recep- 
tacles are indispensable. But it is not absolutely necessary to 
have a wax-press or wax-kettle, for any ordinary wash-boiler 
may be used, though with more waste. Break up the combs. 
Soak them well in water, then heat to the boiling point, taking 
care not to overboil the wax, as it would both spoil it and 
cause some danger of its running over. Make a sort of basket 
or pouch out of wire-cloth, and sink it into the surface of the 
boiling mixture. From this you may dip the wax as it comes 
to the surface and pour it into flaring vessels, such as crocks* 




The Dewey Comb Foundation Fastener. 



or tin pans. The few impurities that you may thus dip up will 
settle to the bottom, and the wax may again be melted to 
finish cleaning it. 

If you own a dozen colonies of bees, it will pay you to have 
a wax-press and save all the scraps, taking care not to leave 
them in reach of the moth (q. v.), in the meantime. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



99 



Bee-Pasturage a Necessity 

As civilization, with its improved and perfected machinery, 
clears away the forest trees and upturns the prairie sods, it 
is year by year lessening the productive honey-field for the 
bees, and gives rise to the frequent remark that bees in cer- 
tain localities do not prove so profitable as in years gone by. 




Fig. 77— Honey-Locust Tree. 



In many instances the honey-yield is not so heavy, and the 
loss in wintering about consumes the profits; especially is 
the latter the case where bee-keepers have kept pace with 
the improved appliances for depriving their bees of the fruits 
of their labor during summer, as fast as gathered, but have 
been too shiftless to provide certain and wholesome nectar- 
yielding bloom with which to replace the earlier stores taken 



IOO BEES AND HONEY ; OR 

away. In view of the uncertainty of Nature providing suffi- 
cient continuous bloom, and the certainty of annually recur- 
ring periods of cold weather, and long, hazardous confinement, 




Fig. 78— Basswood or Linden Leaf and Blossoms. 



the bee-keeper, to insure success, should as conscientiously 
provide pasture from which his bees can gather food, as to 
provide hives with which to shelter them from the storms. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



IOI 



Trees for Shade and Honey 

Every home can be beautified by a judicious selection of 
ornamental shade-trees, and where the roads, streets and lanes 
are nicely bordered with them, the market value of the prop- 
erty will be increased more than double the cost of the trees 
and labor necessary. For this purpose the basswood or linden 
(Tilia Americana) is one of the most desirable. Its rank, 
thrifty growth, large, glossy-green leaves, beautifully perfumed 




A Row of Basswood or Linden Trees in McHenry Co., 111. 



flowers, adaptability to almost any soil and climate, and ease 
with which it can be cultivated, make it one of the most de- 
sirable for lawn or lane. It is easily propagated from the seed, 
and can be transplanted with certainty, and may be obtained 
with little trouble. It blooms in early July, and yields a white, 
aromatic honey, of good quality. 

The tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera), often called pop- 
lar, is also of rapid growth, hardy, and easily cultivated. This 
makes a beautiful shade, and yields an abundance of delicious 



102 BEES AND HONEY; OR 

honey. As a producer it ranks only second to the linden, but 
being a very soft and brittle wood, is not so desirable for shade. 
Box-elder (acer negundo) or ash-leaved maple, is very de- 
sirable for a shade, and being a hard wood, is quite valuable 
for its timber. Like the linden and tulip, it is a great favor- 
ite with bees. Blooming between the two, and forming a 




Fig. 79— Tulip or Poplar Leaf and Blossom. 

beautiful contrast in foliage, it might be alternated with the 
others with nice effect. 

There are two or three varieties of willows, all good honey- 
producers, which are great favorites as shades, and are adapted 
to all sections of our country. The little care required to 
propagate them, is a recommendation in their favor, especially 
in moist soils. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



IO3 



The black locusts should not be overlooked in the arrange- 
ment of our selection of shade-trees. They are almost certain 
honey-producers. Although the duration of bloom is but lim- 
ited, they yield a bountiful supply of rich nectar, and bees will 
literally swarm among the highly-perfumed blossoms. G. W. 
Demaree, of Kentucky, wrote as follows regarding the locust: 

"The time of year in which it blooms nearly filling the in- 
terval between the late fruit-bloom and the white clover, makes 
it an exceedingly valuable auxiliary to the honey harvest in the 
Middle States, if not elsewhere. It is a most profuse honey- 
bearer, rivaling the famous linden in quality, and only inferior 
to the product of the latter in color. Locust honey cannot be 
said to be dark in color. It is of a rich pale-red color, when 
liquid; but when in the shape of comb honey, its appearance, if 
removed from the hive when first finished, is but little inferior 




Fig. 80— Limb, Pod and Seed of Honey-Locust. 



to that of superior clover honey. It becomes exceedingly thick, 
if left with the bees till the cells are thoroughly sealed, and its 
keeping qualities are therefore most excellent. The trees are 
planted by the side of fences, in waste places, and on poor, worn- 
out lands. They may be propagated from the seeds, or by 
transplanting the young trees from one to three years old. If 
the ground is plowed in the spring, and the locust seeds planted 
on the hills with corn, or with other hill-crops, and- cultivated 
the first year, the young trees will grow with great rapidity, 
even on very poor lands. In this way beautiful groves can be 
started, making the land, in process of time, very valuable, in 
locations where timber is an object, besides giving a perfect 
©ea of bloom, ladened with precious nectar." 



104 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



Fruit-trees of all kinds are eagerly visited by the bees, and 
yield plentifully of pollen as well as honey. They are entitled 
also to consideration for the value of their fruit-production. 

We have named the more common and most desira- 
ble of the honey-producing trees. There are many others 
which could be planted with profit, but the list gives the 
names of those which can be grown almost anywhere, and 
combine ornament with utility. All are worth the little trouble 
they cause. 

Plants for Field and Roadside 

When the apiarist 'is so situated that a few acres of land 
can be devoted to bee-pasture, we would advise that such 
selections be made with a view to answering the double pur- 



W 1 



LVJf^ 




Fig. 8i— Sweet Clover Branch and Bloom 



pose of producing honey, and grain or winter forage for stock. 
Although convinced that a profit may be realized from land 
devoted to honey-producing alone, yet all will admit that if a 
remunerative profit can be obtained from its cultivation for 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



I05 



honey, and any other return be derived from the crop, it is an 
additional net profit, less the cost of harvesting- and marketing. 
There are, however, many bee-keepers whose grounds are 
very limited, but in whose immediate vicinity are lanes and 
alleys but little used, or waste commons and worn-out fields, 
which, with little labor and less expense, could be made to 
give profitable employment to an apiary of one-hundred colo- 
nies, thus becoming spots of beauty and sources of revenue, 
instead of remaining evidences of sloth and a public reproach. 




Fig. 82-^Tall-Growingr Sweet Clover. 



For field or commons our first preference is decidedly 
given to sweet clover or melilot (Melilotus alba). Being one 
of the hardiest plants we have, it will withstand any degree of 
winter's cold or summer's heat, and its deep-penetrating and 
wide-spreading roots, admirably adapt it to any variety of soil, 
whether wet or dry, sand or clay, loam or gravel. Being re- 
markably thrifty in growth, it will be found superior to red 
clover for soiling, and can be successfully grown in locations 
where the latter will prove a failure. Prof. C. E. Thorne, of 



io6 



BEES AND HONEY.* OR 



the Ohio State University, thus testifies regarding its value as 
a field plant: 

"It will grow quite luxuriantly in hard, poor clay, where 
even white clover will scarcely live at all, and grows much 
more rapidly than red clover in any soil, while in the soils that 
are, as is said, 'clover sick,' it thrives as well as anywhere. 
It is a good forage-plant for bees and for cattle, and is well 
adapted for soiling, as it makes a growth of four to six feet 
during the season, and is said to bear two or three cuttings. A 
German analysis gives its hay a feeding value of fiftten dollars 
per ton. as against sixteen dollars and twenty-eight cents for 
very good red clover hay. While red clover, upon which our 




Milkweed— a Honey-Plant whose Pollen Sticks to the Feet of Bees. 



farming in many sections, and especially in clay lands, depends 
so essentially for crops of grain, is becoming more and more 
uncertain, it would seem to be worth while to try this 'fast 
weed' as a resource for recuperative green manuring, in heavy 
soils especially." 

But its greatest recommendation for the general bee-keep- 
er is the fact that it requires no especial cultivation, thus mak- 
ing it particularly desirable for roadsides and commons. Being 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



IO7 



a biennial, the seeds possess great vitality, and may be kept 
over for a long time, and scattered a handful at a time, as 




Another Illustration of the White Sweet Clover (Melilotus alba.) 



opportunity offers, or a bare place develops itself. Where pos- 
sible to devote even a limited time to its cultivation, the 
ground may be plowed and the seed slightly harrowed under 



108 BEES AND HONEY; OR 

in the fall with winter wheat, or planted with barley; or in 
early spring it can be sown with wheat, oats, or rye, without 
detriment to the grain. If wanted, however, in its greatest 
perfection, it should be planted in drills four feet apart, and 
once hilled up with the cultivator. Sweet clover blooms and 
yields nectar continuously in the latitude of Chicago from 
about June 20th till August 15th or September 1st, when the 
first seed crop matures, which is succeeded with a new foliage 
and profuse second bloom about August 15th, and this con- 
tinues until frost. If a part of the field be mown- about July 
1st, it will bloom and yield nectar, except when rains are falling 
or during the prevalence of strong, adverse winds, from the 
last of June till past the middle of October — certainly as long 
a period as our important little workers can utilize it; nor will 
it then cease to "waste its sweetness on the desert air," but 
after the advent of winter, when all else has passed into "the 
sere and yellow leaf," its modest flowers will waft a fragrant 
good-bye to the bees when on their last flight, and leave pleas- 
ant memories for their long winter dreams. 

H. S. Hackman, of Illinois, commenced the season of 1881 
with ten colonies, which he increased to seventy, and obtained 
1,200 pounds of surplus honey — 1,000 pounds of extracted and 
200 of comb honey — equal to 120 pounds per colony, spring 
count, and an increase to over seven colonies from one! Mr. 
Hackman, who is an experienced bee-keeper, and whose verac- 
ity is unquestionable, in a letter dated Nov. 15, 1881, wrote: 

"Please find inclosed flowers of the sweet clover, picked 
from the roadside, on the prairie, yesterday, 14th inst. I sup- 
pose I owe my wonderul summer success largely to the sweet 
clover. We had the hottest and driest season we ever had — 
no rain from June 15th until September 15th. The hotter and 
drier the more honey, seemingly. Sweet clover, as a weed! Al- 
though it has been growing in our roads, on waste land, along 
railroads, and on our hillsides for twenty-five years, it does not 
seem to get into the fields, except where water has carried the 
seeds into low places." 

W. T. Stewart, of Kentucky, says: "Melilot is best sown 
in the fall, but will grow any time or anywhere, except on a 
flat rock." 

To sum up, it is worth more to the farmer for soiling than 
red clover, because of its thrifty growth; it is a more reliable 
pasture for cattle, sheep, etc., than red clover, because it will 
thrive on soils where red clover sickens; it will yield much 
more fodder than red clover, because it will stand two or three 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING IO9 

cuttings; and it lacks but seven percent of possessing the nu- 
tritious properties of red clover. We can add, we 'believe it 
is worth the cost of cultivation to the bee-keeper, for honey 
alone, even though he is not the possessor of a four-footed 
animal, because its flow of nectar is not affected by atmospheric 
changes, as is the case with many plants, notably white clover 
and linden, and its honey is second to none. 

It must be borne in mind that sweet clover is a biennial, 
and therefore blooms only the second season, but after some 
years in the same spot, some seeds hold over, and sooner or 
later new plants will be coming, and others blooming, every 
season. 

Alsike or Swedish clover (Trifolium hybridum) is also a 
good grazing and honey plant, and sown in connection with 




Fig. 83— Alsike Clover. 

dairying pursuits or stock-raising, will prove doubly valuable. 
Mr. M. M. Baldridge, of Illinois, who has devoted much careful 
study to this clover, says: 

"The stem and branches are finer and less woody than the 
common red, and when cut and cured for hay, it is perfectly 
free from fuzz and dust. It does not turn black, but remains 



no 



BEES AND HONEY | OR 



the color of well-cured timothy. The bees have no trouble in 
finding the honey, as the blossoms are short, and the heads no 
larger than those of white clover. The blossoms at first are 
white, but soon change to a beautiful pink, and emit considera- 
ble fragrance. It ripens in the latitude of Chicago in the latter 
part of July, but need not be cut till August, if the weather 
be unfavorable. The crop of seed is always obtained from this 
cutting, in which respect it is unlike the common red. It is 
not advisable to cut this clover more than once each season, 
but it may be pastured moderately during the fall. When 
sowed by itself, , four pounds of seed is sufficient for an acre; 





Fig. 84— Alsike Clover Root and Crown 
average size, one year old. 



Fig. 85— Red Clover Root and 
Crown, one year old. 



but this is not the best plan to pursue, especially on dry west- 
ern prairie land. It is much the best to mix it with timothy 
or common red clover, or both. When thus mixed they are 
a help to each other, and two pounds of alsike seed to the 
acre are sufficient. Alsike clover as a fertilizer must be as good 
a plant as red clover, as the roots penetrate much deeper and 
are more numerous. It is a clover which every farmer can and 
should cultivate, whether he keeps bees or not, as it is superior 
to the common red for hay or pasture for all kinds of stock." 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



III 



White or Dutch clover (Trifolium repens) is too well 
known to require particular description, and is associated with 
too many pleasant recollections to call for commendation. Its 





Fig. 86— White or Dutch Clover. 



modest, unassuming bloom, has hallowed many a sacred spot, 
and perpetuated enduring virtues long after the earthly form 
has moldered to dust beneath. The lawn would indeed, seem 




Fig. 87— Part of a 22- Acre Field of White Clover in Iowa. 



112 



BEES AND HONEY: OR 



incomplete, if still was wanting the clover carpet with its vel- 
vet surface of mingling white and green, inviting the weary to 
partake of rest, and giving out its ambrosial perfume while 
the grateful bees in myriads sing from flower to flower. For 
its modest, cheerful appearance, white clover will always be 
a welcome tenant of waste corners, nooks, and roadsides, and 
no farmer need be told of its value for pasturage. Its honey 
is not excelled by any other. 

One of the best honey-plants that the modern methods 



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Fig. 88— Alfalfa or Lucerne. 



have brought to the front in the United States in the past thir- 
ty years is alfalfa or lucerne. This plant, which has been 
grown in Europe for centuries as a forage for horses or cattle, 
is one of the best honey-producers, in all the irrigated valleys 
of the arid or semi-arid States. The honey of Colorado, gath- 
ered from this plant alone, may be counted in dozens of car- 
loads. It is beginning to prove its usefulness as well in our 
Mississippi Valley States. Three crops or more are harvested, 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 113 

and at each crop some honey is gathered by the bees. It is one 
of the best honey-plants (Fig. 88). 

There are several varieties of the mustard (Sinapis) which 
furnish honey. These have been extensively cultivated for 
the seeds alone, and always have a commercial value. The 
length of season for bloom is quite extended, and where a 
dearth of honey-pasturage prevails, bees will work on them 
vigorously. They bloom during July and August. 

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) is familiar to every 
Northern bee-keeper. Its value cannot be too highly esti- 
mated. Its grain always commands ready sale in market, and 
the honey, though dark and strong, is highly prized for manu- 




Fig. 89— Buckwheat in Bloom. 

facturing and other purposes. It furnishes an excellent winter 
food for the bees, and when well-ripened will enable the pro- 
ducer to avail himself of all the white grades of honey stored 
earlier in the season. In early morning the bees work on the 
buckwheat with great enthusiasm, and gather honey from it 
rapidly; but during the middle and latter part of the day they 
entirely neglect it, unless the weather be quite cloudy and hu- 
mid. In the Southern states, we have been told, buckwheat is 
worthless as a honey-producer, and, in fact, the same is true 
of many localities in the Middle and Northern States; but 
where it does produce honey abundantly, it is well worth cul- 
tivation. 



114 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



There are many other plants which will undoubtedly well 
repay cultivation for field purposes alone, and yield a profit- 
able bonus through the labors of the bees. This of course 
will depend upon circumstances surrounding the apiarist. In 
the list can be placed many kinds of fruits, plants, grains and 
grasses, and much will depend upon the judgment and obser- 
vation of the bee-keeper. 



Plants for Honey Exclusively 

The catalog of honey-producing plants is almost without 
end. 'Scarcely one but is some assistance, either in furnishing 



twmm 







honey or pollen; but observation and judgment will be required 

to determine the best. 

If for the roadside, hillside or, commons, where cattle, 
sheep and hogs run at large, the Rocky Mountain bee-plant 
(Cleome integrifolia) is probably one of the best, owing to its 
immunity from grazing animals. T. J. Dodds, of Iowa, says of 
it: 

"Its habitat is clay, gravel, rock and limestone. Our river 
bluffs are carbonate and magnesium limestone, our streets and 
gutters are macadamized and paved with this stone, and in this 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



115 



the bee-plant finds its most attractive home. Hundreds of plants 
can be found in sight by the writer of this, that will measure 
five feet in circumference and five feet in height. Through 
curiosity I went across the street and counted the pods on one 
stalk alone, 'out of hundreds of the same kind all around. They 
numbered 272; the space occupied was 5 feet 10 inches; height 
5 feet 8 inches; circumference of stalk, 1% inches. No rain 
here for nearly three months, yet they are green, luxuriant and 
beautiful. No animal will touch them, and they outgrow every- 
thing they come in contact with, thus proving the survival of 
the fittest. Sow the seed anywhere — among rocks, on craggy 
hillsides, along the highways, in fence-corners where nothing 




Fig. qo— Cleome in Bloom. 

useful will grow, and where the winds and rains will spread 
them, and in a few years your waste-places will prove attractive 
to the eye, and yield abundance of sweets for the table." 

Seed should be sown in the fall, when the plants will bloom 
the next season. 

Spider-plant (Cleome pungens) has attracted much atten- 
tion as a honey-plant among progressive bee-keepers. It is 
a beautiful and interesting plant, and produces an abundance of 
fine honey, but we fear its popularity as a reliable honey-plant 
will 'never become established. The care required in its culti- 



n6 



BEES AND HONEY," OR 



vation, and the lateness before coming into bloom, will militate 
against it, so long as there are plenty equally as good which 
will be only too grateful for an opportunity to occupy the soil 
unmolested and pay their sweet tribute. Spider-plant should 
be sprouted in hot-beds and transplanted. 

After several years of careful, close observation, we are 
more than confirmed in the good opinion we have heretofore 
formed and expressed regarding the excellence of mammoth 
mignonette (Reseda grandiflora) as a honey-plant. It is a 




Fig. qi— Mammoth Mignonette. 



plant of vigorous, rapid growth; having a strong, deep-pene- 
trating tap-root, it is very tenacious in its hold upon the soil, 
and will grow and bloom under the most adverse circum- 
stances. Before white clover has passed its maximum of excel- 
lence, the graceful and modest blossoms of the mignonette 
will have won the preference of the discriminating bees. The 
flowers are thickly studded on the points of curving racemes, 
and as the base matures its many pods well filled with dimin- 
nutive black seeds, the point is daily presenting a succession of 
fresh bloom, which continues until winter has fairly set in. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 117 

It is not unusual to see racemes three feet or more in 
length. The roots, in taste, are a counterpart of horse-radish. 
The foliage is not at all similar to Reseda odorata, and is said 
to be an excellent table salad. Plant early in the spring, in 
drills three feet apart, or in a hot-bed, and transplant; but the 
latter method is unnecessary, as it is perfectly hardy and will 
blossom quite soon enough, with but little care. Do not plant 
too 'thick. It blossoms the first season. 

Motherwort cannot be too highly spoken of as a honey- 
plant. Its blossoms make their appearance in July, and it re- 




Fig. 92— Motherwort. 

mains constantly in bloom until frost, and its green leaves a r e 
among the first visible foliage in spring. The stalks are quits 
large and vigorous, and once well rooted, it blooms and thrives 
under very adverse circumstances. Like , catnip, it is not a 
great favorite with grazing animals, and may be planted on the 
roadsides and commons where stock are allowed to run at 
large. Four pounds of seed per acre are an abundance, and 
it may be sown at any time, after which it needs no further 
attention, and will replant itself. It thrives well among the 
timber, or in open places. 



Il8 BEES AND HONEY; OR 

Simpson honey-plant (Figwort) is quite desirable, but of 
slow growth. The best method of cultivating is by sprouting 
in hot-beds and transplanting. The growth is slow, but once 
well rooted, it m.ay be perpetuated for years. The plants attain 
considerable dimensions. The flower is quite small and unas- 
suming, but the stalk grows tall and is very graceful in appear- 
ance. 

Catnip (Nepeta cataria) can be planted any time and any 
where. It makes a vigorous growth, and possesses much vital- 
ity. Bees work on it early and late, and the honey is excellent. 
Four pounds of seed per acre. It may be sown any time. 

Although all the above-named plants are among the best 
for honey-production, it is very doubtful whether it would pay 
to grow them for honey alone. As a rule we can say that it 
is better to rely on honey-producing plants or trees that have 
an intrinsic value otherwise, as forage, fruit-bearing, or orna- 
ment. 

In addition to the plants above named, there are others 
which are classed among noxious plants, by the average farm- 
er, which are exceedingly useful to the bees. Among them 
we may cite the Spanish-needle; the persicaria, otherwise called 
heartsease; and the white sage. We are certain that some 
people would include sweet clover in the list of injurious 
plants, but that is because they do not realize how beneficial 
this plant is to the soil. It grows where weeds of a worse na- 
ture would grow, and it serves a good purpose. Being a bien- 
nial it is not hard to destroy, when this becomes necessary. 
Such plants as might be overlooked during the first season 
would be plowed under at the inception of the second year, 
before they had time to produce seed. 

Honey-Plants for Decorative Purposes 

Unless actually seen, no idea can be formed of the beauti- 
ful and pleasing effect which can be produced by honey-plants, 
when artistically and tastefuly arranged. Even the most com- 
mon of our wild plants, with a little thought and trouble, can 
be made to transform a very homely lawn into a seeming para- 
dise, and the addition of a column here, with its niches sup- 
plied with variegated wild flowers, and a trellis there, covered 
with blooming vines attractive to the bees, and now and then 
a flowery diamond, or' a heart or circle, will lend an enchant- 
ment to the lawn, rivaling the more expensive exotic displays 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



119 



whose main features are the lavish expenditures of money, and 
which delight the eye only when first beheld, then become mo- 
notonous because planned alone to please the eye. 

In arranging the garden or lawn, especial reference should 
always be studied to present the greatest contrast in colors, 
and yet have them blend in a harmonious whole, so that, let 




Fig. Q3— Column for Drive-way of Lawn. 

the eye turn which way it will, something new and pleasing 
will be seen, but nothing abrupt should be presented to startle 
or tire. 

Mr. W. C. Barry, in an essay read before the American 
Association of Nurserymen, truthfully says: 

"Gardens are to be seen which have been planned and 
planted utterly regardless of all rules of landscape gardening 
Those who have a knowledge of the art cannot refrain from 
noticing the blunders that are made, and it is particularly an- 
noying to them to see fine grounds, which might have been 
rendered exceedingly interesting, utterly ruined by injudicious 
planning and planting. The owners of such grounds, though 
they know nothing about gardening, feel that they have made 



120 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



grave errors, but that it is beyond their power to correct them. 
One of the mistakes most frequently committed is that of 
planting indiscriminately — leaving no breadth of turf, and de- 
stroying the lawn without realizing any effects from the plant- 
ings. If we look about us we shall see how often this occurs; 
yet it seems very strange that gentlemen who have spent thou- 
sands upon a house, would be willing to sacrifice beautiful 
grounds by careless planting. The same attention and care 
which are bestowed upon the house should be devoted to the 
garden, in order that the house and its surroundings may pre- 
sent one harmonious whole. Another common error is that of 
planting trees which attain large size, in small lots. A tall elm 
or Norway spruce, or other large tree, is very much out of place 
on a small lawn. There is no excuse for errors, of this kind, 
for there are numbers of trees of secondary size, which can be 
employed with advantage." 

If the lawn be spacious, a couple of columns similar to the 
one illustrated in Fig. 93 can be cheaply constructed and 




Fig. 94— A Floral Lawn. 



painted, and covered with vines and flowering plants, all afford- 
ing a rich and continuous field for the bees, and adding won- 
derfully to the general effect. Fig. 94 illustrates a residence 
with a narrow front lawn, decorated neatly, but cheaply. 

If a pond or considerable depression occurs in the grounds, 
it can be transformed very easily into a beauty-spot, and be 
made to contribute to the profits derived from the apiary, as 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



121 



also to the pleasure of the beholder. When goldenrods, wild 
bergamot, astors, and other honey-plants grow spontaneously 
in the neighborhood, we would give them the preference in 
cultivating, as they would be hardier, more easily developed, 
and neighbors not keeping bees would be encouraged to foster 
them for their natural, but hitherto unappreciated beauty. 

Clumps of pussy or button willows might be transplanted 
to the grounds with little trouble, and the alder-berry bush 
would be a beautiful substitute for the popular, but almost 
worthless, snow-ball. Beds of asters would look delightful, 
and mints of all kinds, sage, summer savory, sweet alyssum, 





Fig. 95— Fox-Glove— pretty but poisonous. 



and many other plants, could be used in variegated beds or 
for borders. By pursuing this course, not only would a taste 
for flowers be cultivated, but the younger members of the fam- 
ily (and the older ones, too) would exhibit a wonderful apti- 
tude for effective floriculture, which in turn would lead to the 
study and acquirement of a botanical education. This will be 
found an important and useful accomplishment, to aid in dis- 
criminating against obnoxious and poisonous flowers and 
shrubs, such as foxglove (Digitalis), (Fig. 95), mountain 
laurel, oleander, etc. 

We quote from Mr. W. T. Stewart, of Kentucky, the fol- 
lowing very appropriate hints on the subject, which will give 



122 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



a general idea of what to do, and how best to do it, leaving 
to the gardener the exercise of taste to vary the plans to suit 
surroundings: 

"To make a beautiful mound, or what will appear to be a 
mound, yet is only level ground, plant that which grows tallest 
in the center of a ring or circle, next tallest outside of that, and 
and so on down to a creeping ground plant. For instance, you 
want a mound twelve feet across, six or eight feet high in cen- 
ter, gradually sloping off lower until it is on a level with the 




Fig. 96— Floral Window. 



ground. You will first mark it off in rings, say eighteen inches 
apart. Now^ transplant in the center ring eight or ten fine plants 
of figwort; it grows six to eight feet high, filled with beautiful 
seed pods as large as buckshot. Next row transplant with 
goldenrod; grows four to six feet high; then the next row plant 
in spider-plant, which grows three to five feet high, and its 
pretty pink flowers contrasting strikingly with the goldenrod. 
Next row transplant with motherwort and catnip mixed equally; 
two feet high; bloom white. Next row plant princess feather; 
bloom is scarlet and an excellent honey-plant. Next row, white 
mustard; one foot high; bloom golden yellow. Next row trans- 
plant peppermint, bloom white. Last row, ground ivy, a creep- 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



123 



ing vine, and good for bees. Thi>s will, when grown up, appear 
to be a costly mound, most beautiful to the eye of man or bee. 
We can make a basin in the same way by reversing the plants, 
putting the lowest in the center, and so on. By a little study 




Fig. 97— Spike of Giant Mignonette. 



and ingenuity in planting we can contrive many pretty designs 
t'hat cost nothing, and have every plant to pay nearly as well 
as vegetables in a garden. Plant in groups of various colored 
bloom and varied foliage, too, among your bee-hives, making 
them contrast with the color of the hives, etc. Plant a row of 
basswood, poplar, locust, elm or maple all round the fence, and 
keep trimmed nicely. Plums, pears and cherries among your 




Fig 98— Head of Goldenrod. 



hives, for shade, honey and fruit; gooseberries, currants and 
raspberries can all be made ornamental in the shape of hedges 
around poultry yards, garden walk, etc., and all are good honey- 
plants, too. 

"For trellises, around porches, verandas and windows as a 
running vine, there is nothing superior to the clematis for 
beauty, shade or honey. Various colored hollyhocks may be 



124 



BEES AND HONEY! OR 



used to advantage in grouping or single; it is also a good 
honey-producer, but better for pollen. A few stalks of buck- 
wheat worked in for variety or contrast, does not look bad. 
Make a border of peppermint on each side of every walk and 
outer edges of flower beds, and even around the door and gate, 
so that every time there is any passing around, the clothing or 
feet will brush against the peppermint. In this way your lawn 
is constantly perfumed, and you will be surprised to see how 
much mint you can have growing in this way, and also sur- 




Fig. 99— Branch and Blossoms of Sourwood. 



prised to see how the bees take to it through August and Sep- 
tember — just when they need it. If you have a low, wet spot 
on your grounds, plant there a clump of willows. With a group 
of six or eight willows growing on your lawn, you can make it 
the center of attraction. By bending and tying them together 
you can make them grow in every conceivable shape — chairs, 
ladders, hoops, etc., can be had growing; besides, it is beautiful 
as a shade-tree, and one among the most useful of all honey- 
producers, because it comes so early in the spring, and is full 
of nectar for early use. Plant a tree of either elm or bass- 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



125 



wood (twelve feet apart is about right), one on each side of 
your gate; when they arrive at the right height, bend and tie 
them together in the form of an arch; keep them tied until they 




Fig. 100— Bed of Marigolds. 



have grown in that shape. An arch over the gate is pretty, and 
these trees are good for forage." 

The "American Agriculturist" gives the following excel- 
lent advice, bearing upon the subject of selecting the fittest for 
general honey-bloom. We take pleasure in recommending its 
careful perusal: 




Fig. 101— Rape. 



Fig. 102— Willow. 



"From the midde of March, and even earlier, in the far 
South, to the middle of April, is the time to attend to special 
planting for bees. As well remarked by Mr. Cofnnberry at a 



126 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



National Convention, no subject connected with apiculture is 
more deserving attention. If each colony of bees in the four to 
six weeks of storing can give one hundred pounds of honey to 
the apiarist, what might be expected, could they be kept at 
work the whole season through? The great fall yreld from 
autumn flowers, in Michigan and some other States, suggests 
the answer. During one season, in some sections, the autumn 
yield was more than all the rest of the crop. Yet such men as 
G. M. Doolittle, L. C. Root, and others, if we are rightly in- 
formed, get no autumn yield at all. Surely this matter of pro- 
viding plants for bee-pasturage is worthy of consideration. 

'"Roadside tree-planting is attracting much attention at the 
present time. Dr.' Warder, of Ohio, and others, are giving the 
subject their best thought and study. The Legislatures of some 
States encourage tree planting by appointing 'Arbor Days' — 





Fig. 103— Mint. 



Fig. 104— Figwort. 



days set apart for tree-planting — and even by granting home- 
steads, and exemption from taxes to those who will carry on 
this important work. Why do not bee-keepers see to it that 
the valuable maples, which furnish early pollen and honey, are 
accompanied by the still more valuable and equally beautiful 
basswood, and tulip tree (called poplar at the South), and in 
regions where they willl do well, the sourwood and Judas tree? 
Would not a little energy secure these trees at least in goodly 
proportions in the roadside tree-planting? N>o tree excels in 
beauty the basswood and tulip trees, and the great amount and 
excellence of the nectar which they furni'sh is well known. It 
is wise in the matter of bee-food, as elsewhere, to add as many 
'strings to one's bow' as is possible. 

"Every bee-keeper may well see to it that waste-places along 
roadsides, by railroads, etc., are covered with figwort, Rocky 
Mountain bee-plant, spider-plant, catnip, motherwort, and 
melilot or sweet clover. This last is a most valuable honey- 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



127 



plant, but some of our farmers object to i't as a troublesome 
weed. How is this? Many who have tried it say it is not 
troublesome in the least. If a pest, why did Prof. Thorne, of 
the Ohio State University, recommend it as a good forage- 
plant, and as very desirable for green manuring? 

"Bee-keepers should also try to get farmers to sow alsike 
clover, even if they have to furnish the seed. It will pay both 
parties largely, without doubt. 

"As all bee-keepers well know, nearly all our plants fail in 
times of drouth. True, the mustards and borage yield some 
honey, but not bountifully. Why s'hould we not try to intro- 
duce the famous white sage of California? This plant owes its 
very existence to its power of resistance to drouth. We may 
try if it can be grown in the East, and see what the result will 
be in yield of nectar. 

"Let me urge bee-keepers not to allow the spring to pass 
without an effort to do something in the way of culture of 
special honey-plants." 




Eucalyptus Trees of California. 



128 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



Observation Hives 



No man can keep bees successfully unless he becomes well 
acquainted with the habits of bees. This he may acquire to 
a certain extent by reading. But there is nothing like prac- 
tice to learn a thing well. Therefore, we should try to study 




Fig. 105— Observation Hive Inside of Sitting-Room Window. 



the habits of the bees from the bees- themselves. For this an 
observation hive is needed. 

A good observation hive (Fig. 105), is composed of only 
one comb in a frame with glass on both sides. This is sup- 
plied with either doors or a black cloth cover. The doors are 
better excluders of light, but the opening and closing of them 
(Often jars the bees slightly and disturbs them. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



129 



The hive may be placed in a window with an entrance at 
the front so the bees may go to the fields and supply their 
needs. We usually stock up an observation hive in the spring 
by taking a good comb of brood from one of our best colonies 
with plenty v of bees to keep the brood warm. The first thing 
they do is to rear a queen. We may thus be able to witness 
the different changes through which the brood passes, the hatch- 
ing of the queen, the bringing in of pollen, honey, etc. It is an 
endless source of amusement and instruction. To the student, 
an observation hive is indispensable. At the end of the season, 
as it is difficult to winter bees in so small a hive, it is not dim- 
cult to unite it with some populous colony and re-stock it in 
spring, with bees and brood. 




A Bee-House in Gerirany. 



130 



BEES AND HONEY ; OR 



Enemies of Bees 



The enemies of bees are not numerous. A few birds, 
among which we shall name the king-bird, eat bees. But their 
damages are so insignificant that they are hardly worthy of 
mention. 

Ants sometimes make their nest over the bee-hive, to 
take advantage of the warmth of the bees. They may be 
readily driven away by placing salt or powdered sulphur where 
they congregate. The bee-louse or "braula-cceca," exists in Eu- 
rope but is almost unknown here. 

The Bee-Moth 

The most active enemy of bees is the bee-moth, which lays 
its eggs in neglected combs, especially in old combs. The lar- 




Fig. 106— Brood-Comb Destroyed by Moths. 



vse hatch and devour everything in their reach, making webs or 
galleries (Fig. 107), through the combs. Colonies that have 
more combs than they can cover, or queenless colonies, es- 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING I3I 

pecially in the fall, at a time when the moths have already 
reared two broods and are therefore numerous, are often ren- 
dered worthless by the ravages of the larvae of the bee-moth. 
Two different kinds of moths are known, but the larger or 
"tinea melonella" is the principal depredator. Luckily they 







Fig. 107— The Web of the Moth-Larva. 

cannot stand the winter in cold rooms where the temperature 
goes below zero. It is only when accidentally sustained* in 
some corner of a populous colony or in combs in a warm room 
that the moth can reproduce from one year to another. 



1 32 



BEES AND HONEY! OR 



For a remedy there is but one rule — keep your colonies 
strong, and they will destroy the moth. Do not keep any combs 
in exposed places. When moth are discovered in combs they 
may readily be destroyed by the use of brimstone or bi-sul- 
phide of carbon. The latter ingredient should be used with 
care as it is inflammable. Spread a little on a rag and place it 
over the combs, shutting down the box in which they are con- 
tained. 























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Lincoln Monument at Springfield, III., Reproduced in Beeswax. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 1 33 



Diseases of Bees and Treatment 



Of all the diseases of bees the most dreaded is foul brood. 
Foul brood attacks the larva, which dies in the cell. It is in- 
fectious and must be treated with promptness and care. There 
are two different varieties of this disease. For their detection 
and cure, we cannot do better than quote from the Fourteenth 
Annual Report of the State Inspector of Wisconsin, Mr. N. E. 
France, who has probably had more experience with these dis- 
eases thany other man in the United States: 

American Foul Brood 
Symptoms 

(1.) Brood in combs badly scattered, many empty cells, 
cappings dark and sunken, some with holes in cappings, part 
of the brood hatching while others are dead. The dead larvae 
of a dark brown color, or blackish according to age. The light- 
est colored Mali upon inserting a tooth-pick draw out much like 
stale glue when warm. 

(2) Dried Scales. If the disease has reached advanced 
stages, all of the above conditions will be easily seen. Accord- 
ing to its age of development there will be either the shapeless 
mass of dark brown matter on the lower side-wall of the cell, 
or the dried scale. This scale, nearly black and dried hard to 
lower side-wall of comb, and as thin as side-wall of the cell. 
Old, dark-colored brood-combs will show the disease in them 
before the new combs are affected. It is not good policy to 
use old combs for brood-rearing, but rather exchange for full 
sheets of comb foundation. 

McEvoy Treatment 

"In the honey season, when the bees are gathering honey 
freely, remove the combs in the evening and shake the bees 
into their own hives; give them frames with comb foundation 
starters and let them build comb for four days. The bees will 
make the starters into comb during the four days and store 
the diseased honey in them, which they took with them from 
the old comb. Then in the evening of the fourth day take out 
the new combs and give them comb foundation (full sheets) to 
work out, and then the cure will be complete. By this method 



134 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



of treatment all the diseased honey is removed from the bees 
before the full sheets of foundation are worked out. All the 
foul-brood combs must be burned or carefully made into wax 
after they are removed from the hives, all the new combs made 
out of the starter* during the four days must be burned or 
made into beeswax, on account of the .diseased honey that 
would be stored in them. All the curing or treating of dis- 
eased colonies should be done in the evening, so as not to have 
any robbing done, or cause any of the bees from diseased colo- 
nies to mix and go with the bees of healthy colonies. By 
doing all the work in the evening it gives the bees a chance to 




Fig. 108— American Foul Brood— Part of a Brood-Comb. 



settle down nicely before morning, and there is no confusion 
or trouble." 

Sometimes the bees, deprived of all their combs and brood, 
will on the following day leave their hives, and may enter sev- 
eral others, and may carry the disease with them. To avoid 
this, it is well to give the bees some feed, either honey from 
perfectly healthy colonies, or, if any doubt, then feed a syrup 
of equal parts white sugar and water, giving the feed in the 
upper hive above the bees, so as to prevent robbing. 

Honey from infected hives should never be given to bees. 
It can be boiled and used safely, but few will boil it enough to 
kill the disease. Such boiled honey will be very dark colored, 
and bees do not like it. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING I35 

Never let bees get to infected honey; better bury it deep in 
the earth. 

This treatment is most reliable, and has been tested foi 
many years in all climates. I find the greatest number of fail- 
ures where the operator is not careful in treating. Ever re- 
member that a single drop of infected honey, or piece of in- 
fected comb, carelessly left exposed, will be enough to give the 
disease to as many colonies as come in contact with it. I am 
unable to find proof that such honey is injurious to persons 
eating it, but plenty of evidence that it will kill larvae, or young 
honey-bees, also several kinds of animals after injection of 
same. 

Such honey has been used by bakeries, but I recommend 
all such honey to be buried deep. Don't try to burn honey, 
unless in a deep pit, where the remains can be well covered. 

Hives well scraped, are safe to use again, and if the frames 
are boiled under boiling water for some time, they are also safe 




N. E. FRANCE 
Best Authority on Bee-Diseases in the United States. 

to use again. Queen-excluders, and hive fixtures can be boiled 
and saved. Comb foundation from infected wax will be safe 
to use, as I have proven in 60 cases in Wisconsin. Queen- 
cages may contain disease, so, to be safe, I remove the queen 
into a new cage before introducing, and place old cage and 
attendants in the fire. If queens are from known healthy colo- 



i 3 6 



BEES AND HONEY! OR 



nies, they can be introduced in the shipping cage they arrive in. 
Avoid all bees robbing infected or just treated hives. 

Instead of boiling, which is a slow, process, the hives and 
fixtures may be singed by the flame of a tinner's blow-torch, 
or by smearing with coal-oil and applying a match, extinguish- 
ing the flames after a few seconds. 

European Foul Brood, or Black Brood 

In 1898 to 1900 this fatal disease destroyed many profitable 
apiaries in New York State, until State bee-inspectors were ap- 




Mr. France Holding a Comb of Foul Brood to show the Proper Angle to 
Detect the Scales on the Lower Side of the Cells. 



pointed with instructions to do all possible to abate the disease. 
After many trials, and experiments they have succeeded in cur- 
ing it almost every time. 

Symptoms 

No ropy or stringy dead brood; no marked foul odor; not 
attached to the comb. 

The young brood soon after hatching from the egg into 
the larval stage turns yellowish in color, sometimes quite dark 
along the back line. The head end of larva becomes pointed, 
standing out from walls of the cell. The body continues to 
dry, the skin toughens, and remains in the cell loose, never 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING I37 

adhering to the walls of the comb as does American foul brood. 
There is a sour odor sometimes, in the early stages, much like 
sour apple pomace. The colony soon weakens and loses adult 
bees, giving robber-bees and the wax-moths access to the re- 
mains. The moths eat wax only, not the infected bees in the 
cell. 

Treatment 

Make the hive queenless, by killing or removing the queen. 
Allow all the brood to hatch, which will usually take place in 
about 21 days. Then give the bees a new queen reared in a 
healthy colony. This treatment is on the assumption that the 
queen is the one that transmits the disease. It has been proven 
by Cheshire that queens often contain germs of the disease in 
their ovaries. 

If you are afraid to treat the bees without help, secure the 
address of your State Inspector of Apiaries, and write him. 
Most of the States are now prepared to help fight the disease 
by official means. It is an offense punishable by fine to allow 
foul brood to exist without treating it. There is no doubt that 
it can be destroyed by the above-mentioned methods. 

Pickled Brood 

Pickled brood is a similar disease to the one above men- 
tioned (European foul brood), but it is usually of a mild na- 
ture. We have often rid the bees of it by applications of oil 
of eucalyptus on cotton in a little pasteboard box, applied every 
three or four days for a month. 

In all the above-named diseases nothing needs be destroyed 
except the combs containing the dead American foul brood, 
which is so ropy and sticky that it can never be cleaned out 
by the bees. But the honey is unsafe for the bees to use, and 
should never be returned to them. It is for that reason that 
honey which you do not know should never be fed to bees. 

Combs of diseased colonies containing no dead brood may 
be rendered into beeswax. The boiling destroys the germs of 
the disease. 

May Disease 

There is a disease of the adult bees, which is variously 
called "May disease," paralysis, constipation, etc., and often 
ceases after a few days. But occasionally colonies that i.re 
affected lose so many bees that they become worthless. Infre- 
quently, the queen herself may contract the disease and (:ie. 



I38 BEES AND HONEY; OR 

The bee's abdomen becomes distended, the insect is apparently 
in great misery, and crawls about as if partly paralyzed. 
Italian bee-keepers, who have had considerable experience with 
it, have recommended feeding the colony with honey or syrup 
strongly saturated with tonics, such as essence of rosemary, 
lavender, ginger, etc. This disease is rare in our Central States. 

Bee-Diarrhea 

Bee-diarrhea in the latter part of winter and early spring 
is a malady that affects some apiaries. The bees discharge 
their excrements over the hives and combs, producing a dark 
appearance and offensive odor. The cause is either fermented 
honey, improper food, long confinement, or too warm and ' 
poorly-ventilated quarters. 

Fruit-juices, harvested during a dearth of honey, are the 
most frequent causes of diarrhea. These juices, insufficiently 
sweet to keep from fermenting, are stored in the combs like 
honey. They should be extracted and replaced with good 
honey or syrup. Honey-dew from plant-lice is also a cause of 
diarrhea when cold weather confines the bees to the hive a long 
time. 

Usually, diarrhea disappears with the first flights of the 
bees. But in a protracted winter it is difficult to cure. It is 
much more easily avoided by pure food, given at the opening 
of winter, than stopped after it has once begun. When syrup 
is fed, none but the best granulated sugar should be used. 
Commercial glucose is death to the bees, and in most cases they 
refuse to accept it. 




Stingless Bees of Central America. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING I39 



Marketing and Care of Honey 

The Arabs, it is stated, obtained their knowledge of As- 
tronomy while crossing the trackless desert, being compelled 
to observe very closely the position of the stars to guide them 
in their journey. Just so should the bee-keeper closely watch 
the continual and varied changes that occur in the demands 
of the public concerning the preparation of honey for the mar- 
ket. Instead of settling down to the conclusion that, in refer- 
ence to marketing honey he knows it all, he should be careful 
to observe what dealers and consumers demand, and then at 
once, freely and fully meet the requirements of the trade. In 
this way only, can he become a successful apiarist. The pro- 
gressive producer of this God-given sweet is never surprised 
to find that the methods of preparing honey for the market, 
which were acceptable during one season, are behind the times 
for the next, and require modifications or improvements in 
order to keep pace with the public requirements. 

How Should Honey be Marketed? 

It should never be forgotten that honey of good quality, 
and in any of the popular packages, will command the highest 
price, and be in constant demand. 

The marketing of honey is a subject that interests every 
apiarist. In order that honey may be sold readily, it must be 
attractive! Has it never occurred to the reader to inquire why 
bolts of muslin are labeled with pictures of luscious fruit? Or 
why boxes of fancy toilet articles are adorned with lithographs 
of enchanting faces with bewitching smiles? Answers to such 
questions offer us instructive lessons that will pay for the learn- 
ing! Manufacturers know full well that in order to have their 
goods sell readily, they must be attractive! No matter how 
good the quality, nor how cheap the price — they must attract 
and please the eye! 

Today, comb honey is the preference for table use, and if 



140 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



we would cater to the public want, we must produce that arti- 
cle in the most attractive shape. 

No product of field or farm varies so much in price as 
honey; and why? Because of the unattractive manner in which 
some put it upon the market. It only requires to be attractively 
put up, to find ready sale at remunerative prices. If we meet 
the requirements of consumers, there will be a demand for all 
the honey produced in America. 

As the articles for sauce decrease in the fall, the thrifty 
housekeeper looks around for something to take its place be- 




A Honey and Vegetable Wagon for Retailing 



sides canned fruit. Honey is just the thing, and it only remains 
for us to convince the millions of housekeepers of that fact, 
for the demand to increase and grow astonishingly — if the sup- 
ply be kept up attractively. 

One great question, towering far above all others in im- 
portance, is: "How to dispose of honey to the best advantage." 
In vain do we talk of the best hives — the best implements for 
every department of the apiary. In vain do we toil and labor 
from morn till eventide, manipulating our bees and their sur- 
roundings. In vain do we tell of the large amount of honey 
stored away in the honey-houses. Vain is all this, if we cannot 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



I 4 I 



dispose of it to advantage, and thus reap the reward of our 
well-doing. 

Assort and Grade the Honey 

All honey should be graded, and a scale of prices be estab- 
lished. Now, one compelled by his needs, may sell honey at 
the commencement of the season for any price offered, and 
thus unintentionally break down the market, by giving a start 




Getting a Crop of Comb Honey Ready for Market. 

at too low a rate. Systematic organization could and should 
help this state of affairs. Some State conventions have ap- 
pointed committees to grade and then dispose of the honey of 
the members. If this were done in every State or district, we 
should hear no more of the markets being broken down by 
premature and forced sales. 



Management of Comb Honey 

Comb honey should be taken, from the hive as soon as it is 



142 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



finished, or as soon thereafter as possible. Mr. G. M. Doolittle 

says: 

"No apiarist can expect to have his honey sell for the high- 
est market price, if he allows it to stay in the hives for weeks 
after it has been sealed over, allowing the bees to give the 
comb a dirty yellow color, by constantly traveling over it. 
All comb-honey producers know that there always will be cells 
next to the section that are partly filled with honey but not 
sealed over, and when taken from the hive, if the section is 
turned over sidewise, the honey will run out, making sticky 
work. The remedy for this is a small, warm room. Bees 
evaporate their honey by heat, and therefore, if we expect to 
keep our honey in good condition for market, we must keep it 
as the bees do, in such a position that it will grow thicker, in- 
stead of thinner all the while. Our honey-room is situated on 
the south side of our shop, and is about 7 feet square, by 9 
feet high. We have a large window in it, and the whole south 
side is painted a dark color, to draw the heat. In it the mer- 




Co migrated- Paper Shipping-Case. 



cury stands from 8o° to 90 , while our honey is in it; and 
when we case it for market, we can tip our sections as much as 
we please and no honey will drip, neither will any of the combs 
have a watery appearance — all will be bright, dry and clean. 
But if we keep honey thus warm, the moth will make its ap- 
pearance, and make it unfit for market, by gnawing off the 
sealing from the beautiful combs. 

"We build a platform on either side of our honey-room, of 
scantling, about 16 inches high, and on this we place the sec- 
tions so that the fumes from burning sulphur can enter each 
one; in about two weeks we fumigate, by burning Y of a 
pound of sulphur for every 200 cubic feet in the room. We 
take coals from the stove and put them in an old kettle, so 
as not to get anything on fire; pour on the sulphur and push 
it under the pile of honey, and shut up the room. Watch 
through the window, and in 15 minutes after the last fly or bee 
that chances to be in the room has died, open the door and 
let out the smoke, for if it stands too long, the smoke may set- 
tle on the combs and give them a greenish hue. As there may 
be a few eggs that have not yet hatched, we fumigate again in 
about ten days, after which the honey will be free from moths, 
if you do not let millers into the room." 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



143 



Handling and Shipping Honey 

It has been estimated that the surplus honey product of 
America amounts to a hundred millions of pounds; therefore, 



. 












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the placing of this enormous product upon the market is a 
subject of vast importance to honey-producers. Any method 
that will add one cent per pound to the marketable value, is 



144 bees and honey; or 

worth to them fully a whole million of dollars; and any 
error of management, causing- a reduction of one cent per 
pound, is to them a corresponding loss! We should ascertain 
what the market demands, and then diligently apply ourselves 
to the work, in order to reap the reward of well-doing and 
rejoice in the labor of our hands. 

Honey in the comb is a luxury — a fancy article — and our 
first care should be to produce it in such a manner as to com- 
mand a fancy price. It must captivate the eye of the consumer, 
and tempt him to purchase. To this end comb honey should 
be put up in uniform cases, and not veneered, i. e., the combs 
inside should be just as good as those on the exterior of the 
case. Small packages sell the most readily; twelve in a case 
are usually sufficient, and often the most desirable for the 
jobbing trade, though the larger producers use the 24-section 
case extensively. 

The apiarist should give his personal attention to its 
casing, grading and shipping, so that he may be positive as to 
the details, should any question, involving these, be raised by 
the consignee. The inexperienced and careless ones are always 
a detriment, and sometimes ruin the market for their more 
careful and experienced neighbors. They take an inferior grade 
of honey, put up in irregular and soiled packages, to market 
early, just to get a little money, and sell for any price offered; 
and this often settles the price for that locality and season, 
and the attractive honey is either sacrificed to their careless- 
ness, or shipped to another market. 

Management of Extracted Honey 

The marketing of extracted honey is an important matter, 
for a good article, attractively put up, will always command the 
best price, and it is, therefore, of the utmost importance to 
producers to have honey put up in the best shape. 

None but a thoroughly good article should be produced or 
placed on the market, as the price depends on the quality. A 
good article of extracted honey has excellent qualities, which, 
when well known, will commend it to all consumers, and is 
equal in every respect to the very best article of comb honey. 

Every bee-keeper should fully supply his own locality, and 
he should let it be distinctly understood that it is the pure 
honey taken from the combs by centrifugal force — that nothing 
is added to it, and nothing taken from it but the comb — that 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



145 



it is not the old-fashioned "strained honey," which was ob- 
tained by being taken from mashed brood-combs, and 
"strained" from dead bees, pollen, etc., but that it is the pure 
liquid gathered from the flowers, which will give health to the 
body, force to the mind, and strength to the intellect of those 
who use it. 

It should also be kept before consumers that granulated 
honey can be reduced to its liquid state by placing the honey 
in a jar of warm water. When thus liquefied, it so remains 
for some time before again granulating. 

Consumers may be sure of a wholesome article by pur- 
chasing granulated honey and reducing it. If heated above 




Uncapping Combs of Honey for Extracting. 



160 degrees there is danger of spoiling the color and ruining 
the flavor. Remember that honey contains, the most delicate 
of all flavors— that of the flowers from which it is taken. A 
good way is to set the vessel containing the honey inside an- 
other vessel containing hot water, not allowing the bottom of 
the one to rest directly on the bottom of the other, but putting 
a bit of wood or something of the kind between. Let it stand 
on the stove, but do not let the water boil. It may take half a 
day or longer to melt the honey. If the honey is set directly 



146 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



on the reservoir of a cook-stove, or on a steam or hot-water 
radiator, it will be all right in due time. 

If the product is for a home market, then, of course, the 
producer must study the local preference regarding the size 
and style of package, as well as the grade of honey most easily 
disposed of. As far as practicable, keep each grade of honey 
separate; it is a mistake to suppose a few pounds of inferior 
or different shade honey will make no difference in a large 
bulk of white clover honey, or that thereby a better rate will 
be obtained for the second-grade article. Instead, the result 
will most likely be to class it all as second-grade, and the price 




Method of Fastening: the Honey-Extractor for Extracting. 



of all will be depreciated. Again, if possible, keep the white 
clover and basswood honey separate. In order to do this, 
keep a vigilant .watch of the basswood bloom, and extract the 
white clover quite close before the bees commence gathering 
from the former. A little clover in the basswood honey, how- 
ever, will not do the harm that would result if the proportions 
were reversed. After the basswood harvest is all gathered by 
the bees, extract it closely, for it will not do to taint any other 
honey, even though it be from fall flowers and somewhat 
darker, with its aromatic flavor. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



Tin Pails for Honey 



147 



For retail packages, tin pails (Figs. 109 and no), with 
close-fitting covers, are the best. Purchased by the gross or in 
lots of 1,000 or more, the price is so inconsiderable that no 




Fig. ioq— Straight Pails for Holding; Honey. 

consumer will object to paying what they cost, in addition to 
the price of the honey, for they are so "handy to have in the 
house" that not one in a hundred would return the pail. 

A neatly printed label should be gummed or pasted on each 
pail, stating the amount and kind of honey, name of apiarist 




To bold 25 pounds. 13 pounds. 7 pounds. 4 pounds. 

Fig. no— Tapering- Pails for Holding- Honey. 



who put it up, and giving in a foot-note directions for lique- 
fying the honey in case it granulates. 

Tapering pails are heavier and stronger than the straight 
pails; the covers are deeper and the top-edge of the pail is 
doubled over. A smaller size is also made to hold about one 
pound. 



J48 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



If smaller packages are wanted, then use glass jars (Fig. 
in), or tumblers. Those are always worth their cost in the 
family— the former for pickles, catsup, and a thousand other 
uses, while the latter are equally appreciated for their conven- 





Fig. in— Glass Honey-Jars. 

ience in putting up jellies, etc. Jars and tumblers, like the tin 
pails, should be tastefully put up and labeled. 

The square tin cans (Fig. 112), furnish excellent packages 
for safely shipping extracted honey. Each can holds about 60 
pounds, and two of them may be shipped together in one crate 
or box, as seen in the smaller engraving. There is no 
leakage in transit, if even moderately well handled. A slat one 
inch square should be placed over each can, before nailing the 
cover down, in order to protect the screw cap. 



Honey Must be Ripe 

The nectar gathered from the flowers cannot be called 
honey until the evaporation and ripening process has so far 
gone on that the bees have commenced capping it over. If 
it be extracted before it is capped by the bees, as some apiarists 
recommend, on account of the quantity being thereby greatly 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



149 



augmented, then it should be ripened before it is placed in tight 
packages or shipped, or it is liable to ferment and sour. 

Some bee-keepers of California find it necessary to extract 




Fig. 112— Square Cans for Shipping: Extracted Honey. 

the honey as fast as it is gathered, but they thoroughly ripen 
it. Mr. Gridley thus describes his plan of ripening honey: 

"The honey from the extractor runs through a galvanized 
iron pipe (one-and-a-fourth inch) drain, emptying into a pan, 
3x6 feet, four inches deep, made in this manner: This pan is 
put into a wooden case and covered with a glass sash; set it 
at angle of about forty-five degrees. The honey runs around 
these partitions, back and forth, a distance of one hundred feet 



n 



(J 



o 



Fig. 113— Honey-Evaporator. 



before it reaches the outlet at the further end; from there it 
passes through ten feet of pipe into the tank, containing one 
ton. By the time it reaches the tank, the water is pretty well 
evaporated." (Fig. 113.) 

Honey as a Commercial Product 

With a ready and anxious market for our best honey in 
England, France, Germany, China and Japan, as eager con- 
sumers of American extracted honey, all fears of overstocking 
the market are happily set at rest, and the time is not far dis- 



150 



BEES AND HONEY! OR 



tant when prices will be as quotable, and as generality uni- 
form, as for any other product. Nor need we fear a divided 
market by reason of foreign competition, for no country in 
Europe is so greatly favored by nature for honey-producing 
as is the United States, and none produces honey of finer 
quality. 

Time was when prejudice militated greatly against our 
sales abroad, but the cultivation of fraternal relations with our 




Arrangement for Reliquefying Jars of Extracted Honey. 



friends in foreign lands, and the assurance of friendly feelings 
and honorable transactions, have turned their honest prejudice 
into esteem, and their jealousy into generous co-operation. 

Our faith in the future of honey as a staple article, like 
butter, cheese and eggs, is strong and invincible. To this we 
have devoted our time, energies and means, and we are fully 
aware that all our "earnest work," as well as that of our co- 
laborers, will be rewarded. Let us all be wide-awake — for 
"the day of prosperity" for our chosen avocation is dawning. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



ia 



Honey and Bee Exhibits 

Public manipulations with bees and magnificent honey ex- 
hibits are the most attractive features of State, County, and 
District Fairs. There are many good reasons for introducing 
such, but the chief one, perhaps, is that those who produce 
honey for the market may be induced to present it in the most 
marketable shape; for the new methods and new ideas of 



. i 



, 






/■> 



■./VPIAKy 








A Bee and Honey Exhibit at the Oklahoma State Fair. 



practical management must take the place of the old and un- 
desirable ones. 

It is our aim to make honey a staple product. To this end 
we have endeavored to popularize the consumption of honey 
by the masses, as well as to raise the standard of production, 
by applying correct principles and progressive art to the man- 
agement of the apiary. 



15- 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



Bees and honey are already the great attraction at such 
fairs as have given prominence to this industry — and this will 
become more apparent each successive year. 

It required a long time to convince the Agricultural 
Boards of the different States that the honey-bee deserved a 
full recognition. The bees were usually relegated to some dis- 
tant corner of the grounds, when at all permitted to exhibit. 
At present with our greater ease of management, colonies of 
bees, confined in observation hives, queens, and apiarian imple- 
ments as well as exhibits of honey, are not only allowed but 
offered liberal premiums. 

Fig. 114 shows one corner of a room on the second floor 
of a building on the Fair grounds, enclosed by mosquito bar — 




Fig. 114-Corner of Building enclosed with Netting, 

the hives of bees being inside, with a tube connecting with 
the entrances running through the sides of the building, allow- 
ing the bees free passage in and out. Manipulation or exam- 
ination of the bees, may be accomplished by going inside the 
netting, and no one outside need be disturbed by the bees. 
Fig. 115 shows the ground plan of same corner: A shows the 
netting; B, C, D, E, F, G show the entrance tubes to the hives. 
When in Great Britain, during the summer of 1879, Mr. 
Newman found that the most attractive features of the fairs 
were the public manipulations with bees, and the large display 
of honey of captivating beauty. There they had a large tent 
(Fig. 116); the inner circle being enclosed by mosquito bar or 
netting around the sides and about eight feet high, leaving the 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 



153 



top entirely open. Around this circle is a passageway, covered 
with canvas above and outside, about eight feet high, and six 
feet broad; in this inclosure the audience assemble to witness 
the manipulations with bees. 

Mr. Newman gave eight half-hour lectures in this tent: 




Fig. 115— Corner of Building showing Entrance Tubes. 

each time the inclosure was full of eager listeners. Two of 
these were delivered at the Scottish Bee and Honey Show, at 
Perth, concerning which the Dundee Advertiser remarks: 

"The manipulating tent was a scene of great interest dur- 
ing the show. It is of octagon shape, the operator standing 
in the middle, while the public feel secure under the protection 
of an intervening gauze screen. Driving bees from a straw 
skep and transferring their combs to a bar-frame hive, were 
hourly operations, and never failed to strike with astonishment 
the spectators, who stood aghast at seeing a human being 
unprotected turning up a hive of bees, and handling them as 




IIM 



Fig. 116— Bee-Tent. 



if they were blue flies. Mr. Thomas G. Newman, editor of the 
American Bee Journal, was present, and gave lectures on 
American bee-keeping, which were very interesting^ lhe bo- 
ciety presented to him a medal as a souvenir of his visit to 
this country, and for the valuable services he has rendered to 
the present session of the Society." 



154 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



For exhibiting bees, observation hives were used — those 
having glass sides, through which the bees may be seen at 
work — the hives being inside the exhibition building, with a 
tube covering the entrance, and running through the side of 
the building, giving free passage, in and out, for the bees. 
Sometimes, a glass box inclosing each frame, arranged like the 
leaves of a book, with a common entrance to all of them, from 
the tube running through the side of the building, is made to 




New York State Honey Exhibit at the Columbian Exposition in 1893. 

exhibit bees. This gives an opportunity for thorough examina- 
tion of the whole colony. 

Effect of Bee and Honey Shows 

A correspondent in the London Horticultural Journal 



says 



I can state without fear of contradiction that never in the 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 155 

memory of man has there been such a desire to keep bees as at 
the present time. People here have been so encouraged in bee- 
keeping as taught in the bee-tents, that I have almost daily ap- 
plications for instructions concerning bees and hives." 

Concerning a Toronto Bee and Honey Show, Mr. Wm. 
F. Clarke said: 

"Under the stimulus of the liberal prize list, there was a 
magnificent array of honey. The directors appropriated an 
entire building to the use of bee-keepers, and for the first time 
at a great exhibition on the American continent, "honey hall" 
advertised itself side by side with horticultural hall, dairy hall, 
etc. Honey was displayed in every form, calculated to make 
the mouths of spectators water. The tin packages and cans 
were gorgeously colored and labeled; the glass jars were in 
various beautiful shapes, and even the wooden boxes displayed 
a wonderful diversity of taste. In the center was a miniature 
church, ingeniously built of honey-comb and wax, with pinna- 
cles and spire. A smashing trade of honey was done at the 
exhibition. Thousands of people might be seen' with gay-look- 
ing tin cans dangling from their fingers, or with pretty glass 
jars in their hands, or nice boxes under their arms. They 
bought and carried them home very much as is usually done 
with toys and trinkets on such occasions. The success of this 
show awakens great expectations as to the future of bee-keep- 
ing in this country." 

During recent years, the interest in bees at fairs has ex- 
tended even to States which at one time were thought to be 
too arid in most of their area ever to produce honey in any 
amount. The irrigation of the soil in the West is bringing 
about a condition of prosperity to bees unexpected in former 
times. We do not believe that a single State will remain with- 
out an extensive honey exhibit at its agricultural fair. We had 
recently the honor of being chosen as judge of the Kansas 
honey exhibit, at Hutchinson, and we were astonished at the 
extensive and valuable display made there by several ex- 
hibitors. 

Displays and manipulations under tents from which the 
bees cannot escape, and consequently in which there is no 
possible danger for the spectators, is giving the masses an in- 
sight into the mysteries of the bee-hive. 

Many States are also taking an interest otherwise, by es- 
tablishing experiment stations for bee-culture. Laws have 
been passed in some thirty States concerning foul brood and 
other diseases, and a few States are also making appropriations 
for their State bee-keepers' association. The Illinois legisla- 
ture has passed such an appropriation. 



156 



BEES AND HONEY; OR 



Conclusion 

The illustrious L. L. Langstroth, the inventor of the mod- 
ern movable-frame hive, and author of "The Hive and the 
Honey-Bee," the classic in bee-culture, has been called the 
"Father of American Apiculture." The maxim, "Keep all colo- 
nies strong," was his watchword. No better advice may be 
given. With strong colonies your bees fear not the moth nor 
the robber-bees. They gather large crops, whenever honey 
may be found in the fields, can better withstand the cold of 
winter than colonies of only average strength, and will give 
you the greatest returns from the least number of colonies. 




They're Just 'Talking Bees. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING T57 



APPENDIX 



In the hope that those who read this book may become 
more familiar with the value of honey, both as a daily food 
and as a remedy for many of the ills of mankind, it is deemed 
wise to devote some pages to information concerning the uses 
of honey, that cannot be found in so compact a form anywhere 
else in the realm of literature. Both the reviser and the pub- 
lishers of this volume believe that as the public come to realize 
that honey is truly a wonderful health-giving sweet, they will 
be only too glad to use it upon their tables more liberally, and 
will thus greatly benefit not only themselves, but also those 
who are devoting their time and talents to its production. 



Ancient History of Honey 

In the books of antiquity, honey is mentioned as one of 
the most ancient articles of food — man's first source of nour- 
ishment. Aye, and are we not informed that when "the morn- 
ing stars sang together" over the pristine beauty of a new-born 
world, that under the bright smile of Heaven, Adam and his 
spouse were presented with a glorious home in an enchanting 
garden filled with "supernal fruits and flowers" of Heaven's 
own planting — nurtured and watched by hosts of angelic attend- 
ants, who had made that Eden-home a beautiful Paradise? 
There "the beasts of the field and fowls of the air" dwelt to- 
gether in perfect harmony, under sun-lit skies; and among the 
beautiful bowers of that holy retreat, Eden's feathered song- 
sters rapturously joined in "the swelling chorus." 

There, too, reveling in the precious nectar yielded from 
the bloom of glory-clad trees, shrubs and flowers, was "the 
little busy bee," with its joyous hum and rapid flight — gath- 
ering the plenteous sweetness for the tiny but numerous fam- 



I58 BEES AND HONEY; OR 

ily about to spring into existence, at its little home! Ever 
did it flit from leaf to leaf and flower to flower, gathering the 
honeyed treasures, that its "stores" may be abundant for gen- 
erations yet unborn — when winter's sable-shades should settle 
down upon the earth, visiting it with cold and storm, and chill- 
ing the "little pets" by its frozen breath and fiercer blast! 

No historian has transmitted to our day a description of 
the rude hives provided for the bees that Noah carried into 
the ark, nor are we informed whether Abraham's bees were 
kept in log-gums or box-hives, but it is recorded that the 
land where Abraham dwelt — Canaan — was one "flowing with 
milk and honey;" and when the old Patriarch, because of 
the famine that prevailed there, sent his sons to Egypt to 
buy corn, he sent as a present to the Egyptian ruler some of 
Canaan's famous honey. — Gen. 43:11. 

We may well conclude that Canaan's honey was then as 
famous as in subsequent ages was the honey from Mount 
Hymettus in Greece. — Lev. 21:24; Num. 13:27; Ex. 3:8, 17. 

In later years, Abraham's offspring journeyed through the 
deserts of Arabia, and in order to sustain them there, God 
gave them manna from Heaven, to eat; they said that "the 
taste of it was like wafers made with honey." — Ex. 16:31. 

When the Amorites came out of the mountains of Sier 
against the children of Israel, "they chased them like angry 
bees." — Deut. 1:44. 

In the Mosaic law we find many statutes regulating the 
ownership of Bees. 

When Jonathan was engaged in battle with the Philistines 
and became tired and faint, he partook of honey, and was 
greatly refreshed. — 1 Sam. 14:27. 

David and his army were provisioned in Gilead, and honey 
was one of the luxuries enumerated. — 2 Sam. 16:29. The Jews 
placed honey before their guests as a sign of welcome, giving 
them the greatest luxuries that the land produced. 

Jeroboam sent his queen with presents to the Prophet 
Ahijah, and included honey. — 1 Kings 14:3. 

In the tithes of the Jewish Priesthood, honey is enumer- 
ated. — 2 Chron. 31:5. 

Job signified the plenteousness of honey in the land, by 
speaking of "brooks of honey." — Job 20:17. 

Solomon relished Canaan's delicious honey, and volun- 
teered this advice: "My son eat thou honey; because it is 
good." — Prov. 24:13. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 1 59 

Isaiah mentions "the bee that is in the land of Assyria," 
and declares that bees were so plenty that "butter and honey 
shall every one eat that is left in the land." — Isa. 7:18, 22. 

The earliest mention of honey as an article of commerce, 
is, that the Jews were engaged in trading it at Tyre, that old 
and honored mart of trade in Phoenicia. — Ezek. 27:17. 

Sirach, who lived about the time of the rebuilding of the 
Temple at Jerusalem, speaking of the necessaries of life, men- 
tions honey, with flour and milk. 

Solon, in the year 600, B. C, enacted a law, requiring that 
bee-hives in cultivated fields must be three hundred feet apart. 

Homer, Herodotus, Aristotle, Cato, Varro, Virgil, Pliny, 
Columella, and other ancient sages, composed poems, extolling 
the activity, skill and economy of the bees. 

The celebrated Cilician apiarist, Aristomachus, of Solus, 
with fifty-eight years experience in bee-keeping, wrote on the 
subject of bees and honey, some five hundred years, B. C. — but 
that work is lost to us. 

The Persians, Grecians and Romans, used honey quite 
extensively as an article of diet; they also used it largely in 
preparing their food, and by it, most of their beverages were 
sweetened. 

Pramnian wine, produced near Smyrna, in Asia Minor, 
was, when mixed with honey, a favorite and celebrated bev- 
erage. Virgil calls it "the gift of heaven," and Pythagoras 
used and praised it. Democritus recommended it to all who 
wished to live long. When mixed with honey, many wines are 
more pleasant to the taste, and hence the Grecians and 
Spaniards of our day, even, thus prepare their wines, — known 
to the trade as "Malaga Wine." 

Aristotle, in his celebrated "History of Animals." written 
about the middle of the Fourth Century before the Christian 
era, gave the first definite description of the honey-bee. 

Varro remarks: "Nothing is sweeter than honey; grateful 
to gods and men, it is used on the altars." 

"At the feast of the gods," described by Ovid, which re- 
quired costly aliments and precious wines, "the delicious honey- 
cakes were never wanting." These were composed of meal, 
honey and oil, and in number were the same as the years of 
the offerer. 

It was also extensively used in domestic worship; at the 
special worship of Ceres in November, it was indispensable. 
Ceres was regarded as the "honey dispenser," and by her union 



l60 BEES AND HONEY,* OR 

with the rain-god, Zeus, caused fruitful seasons. Her priest- 
esses were called "bees," because honey was the first food of 
the infant Dionysus, the son of Bacchus, whom Ceres bore in 
her arms, as Isis carried Horus; and she was the instructor 
of Aristseus in bee-culture. Bacchus, too, demanded a share, as 
the "discoverer of honey," the "admirer of all sweetness," and 
the "decorator of the blooming meadows." 

The Greeks and Romans used honey in embalming their 
dead, and sprinkled it over the graves in the funeral service. 

In India, honey is abundant, and Alexander's triumphant 
warriors laid a tribute of "honey and wax" upon the conquered 
people; as did also the Romans, years afterwards, on the Corsi- 
cans. The latter paid Rome 200,000 pounds of wax, yearly, 
as such tribute. At the triumphal celebration, Pontus dis- 
tributed honey to the victorious army. 

The Roman Emperor Charles IV, was favorable to bee- 
culture, and owned a forest, as did also the Holy Roman See, 
both of which were called bee-gardens. 

The Bee-Masters' Association (or guild) paid him an an- 
nual tribute of four thousand gold florins, and in the year A. D. 
1350, he granted them a diploma which regulated their order. 
These guilds transmitted bee-knowledge from father to son, 
—as then the art of printing was unknown. 

On the Statute books of ancient nations, laws are found 
for the protection of bees. The theft of a swarm of bees, ac- 
cording to old Saxon law, was punishable with death. 

In Germany, history informs us, that a honey tribute was 
often levied, long before the reign of Henry IV. 

The Zerotin family in Moravia and Silesia, did much to 
encourage bee-culture. They had a guild, certain privileges, 
bee-taxes, and their own police. 

Prof. Jantscha, from Carniola, was called to Vienna, as 
professor of bee-culture, during the reign of Maria Theresa. 
His successor was Manzbery. Under this reign all improve- 
ments flourished. On April 8, 1775, bee-culture, by patent, 
was elevated by the removal of all hindrances to the sale of 
honey and wax. 

In 1806, Christian Pehlemann, an invalid, resident in the 
village of Odenburg in the Prussian province of Brandenburg, 
loaned the then hard-pressed King, of Prussia, four hundred 
rix-dollars, the surplus profits of an apiary of thirty colonies of 
bees, by whose labors and products he supported himself. In 
1812, the King repaid the loan with interest, and presented 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING l6l 

to the patriotic lender a gold medal having a hive and a cluster 
of bees embossed thereon. 

Dr. Bevan's work on "The Honey-Bee" was a standard 
volume until one with the same title was published in this 
country by the Rev. L. L. Langstroth, and later revised by 
the Dadants. 

Honey Nature, Quality, and Sources 

Honey, fresh from the comb, is clear, translucent, slightly 
amber-colored, and viscous, becoming granular in time, with 
whitish transparent crystals. In taste and smell, it is sweet, 
agreeable and aromatic. It should not irritate the throat when 
eaten, and its peculiar flavor should be so decided, that it can 
be readily detected when mixed with other articles of diet. 

Honey derived from the blossoms of rape and other crucifer- 
ous plants, granulates or crystallizes speedily — often, indeed, 
while yet in the comb before removal from the hive; while 
that from labiate plants, and from fruit-trees in general, main- 
tains its original condition unchanged for several months 
after being extracted from the comb. Honey produced in 
Northern climates likewise crystallizes sooner than that from 
Southern countries. 

The Nature of Honey 

The "Druggists' Advertiser" has this to say about the na- 
ture and characteristics of honey: 

"Under the microscope the solid part of honey is seen to 
consist of myriads of regularly-formed crystals; these crystals 
are for the most part exceedingly thin and transparent, and 
very brittle, so that many of them are broken and imperfect; 
• but when entire they consist of six-sided prisms^ apparently 
identical in form with those of cane sugar. It is probable, 
however, that these represent the crystals of dextrose, as they 
occur in honeys from which cane sugar is nearly or wholly 
absent. Intermingled with the crystals may also be seen pollen 
granules of different forms, sizes and structure, often in such 
perfect condition that they may be referred to the particular 
plant from which the juices have been gathered. Crystalline 
sugar, analogous to grape sugar, may be obtained by treating 
granular honey with a small quantity of alcohol, which, when 
expressed, takes along with it the other ingredients, leaving the 
crystals nearly untouched. The same end. may be obtained by 
melting the honey, saturating its acid with carbonate of cal- 
cium, filtering the liquid, then setting it aside to crystallize, 
and washing the crystals with alcohol. Inferior honey usually 
contains a large proportion of uncrystallizable sugar and vege- 



l62 BEES AND HONEY J OR 

table acid. When diluted with water, honey undergoes the 
various fermentation, and in very warm weather an inferior 
grade of honey will sometimes undergo a change, acquiring a 
pungent taste and a deeper color. The usual adulterations of 
honey are with various forms of starch, as those of the potato 
and wheat, and with starch and cane sugars. The starch is 
added to whiten dark honey, and _ to correct the acidulous 
taste which old honey is apt to acquire, as well as for the sake 
of increased weight. The presence of starch may be readily 
detected by the usual iodine test. Honey is now rarely adul- 
terated, in this country at least, as owing to the large supply, 
the conditions that once made sophistication profitable now 
no longer exist." 

The Quality of Honey 

Athea, in Greece, furnished, from the south side of Mount 
Hymettus, and Sicily, from the hill and country surrounding 
Hybla, in which place thyme scents the air, honey which was 
for ages held to be the finest and best. Also the honey from 
the country surrounding Mantua, the home of Virgil, from 
Mount Ida, from the shores of the Black Sea, and from the 
islands of Crete, Cyprus, and Kalydon, were held in high es- 
teem; and even yet, the honey from Spain, and especially from 
the Grecian Islands, is highly prized, and every year hundreds 
of quintals are transported to Constantinople. It is in great 
demand at the palace of the Sultan. Of most excellent quality 
is the honey from the Island of Minorca, from Chamounix in 
Savoy, from Champagne, Narbonne and Montpelier, in southern 
France, and also that from Portugal. The latter is nearly white, 
and receives a pleasant aromatic taste from the abundant rose- 
mary and other sweet-scented flowers, fruits and herbs. Bo- 
hemian honey was noted in ancient times for its rich aroma 
and its bright gold color; ,also in the vicinity of Salzburg and 
the Alps, the honey has rare value. 

In districts producing a great diversity of plants and flowers, 
those which decidedly predominate determine the quality of 
the honey -there gathered. Natural meadows, and artificial pas- 
ture grounds, sown with esparcet, lucerne, melilot, white 
clover, etc., generally yield a very pure, white, sweet, and aro- 
matic honey. The nature of the soil, climate, general tempera- 
ture, and even the prevalent winds, have likewise considerable 
influence on the quality and quantity of the honey produced in 
any district. Thus, easterly and southeasterly winds rapidly 
dry up the honey in the nectaries of flowers; and long-con- 
tinued drouth prevents the secretion of nectar, 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 163 

The Sources of Honey 

A writer on this interesting subject remarks that honey is 
solely a vegetable product, not made, but gathered from the 
nectar of flowers, where it is secreted in fine weather accord- 
ing to the rules of Nature's laboratory. Each flower yields 
honey of its own peculiar flavor, which, if not gathered, is 
soon evaporated and lost. Trees and flowers of nearly every 
variety produce both honey and pollen; but there are three 
distinct honey-harvests in each year. The spring harvest is 
at its height when the apple trees are in blossom. Although 
the willow, hazel, elder, soft maple and tiny spring flowers 
each produce honey and pollen nearly a month before apple 
trees are in blossom, and they form for the bees an acceptable 
change from the spare winter diet and also stimulate breed- 
ing, yet the bees scarcely gather from these what they con- 
sume during the time they are in blossom. When the hard or 
sugar maple is in blossom, and the peach, pear, and cherry are 
rich in honey and pollen, they extend an invitation which is 
never slighted by the provident bees. The apple tree is classed 
with the raspberry, yielding an excessive flow of excellent 
honey. 

The wild cherry is rich in honey. The locust tree, either 
the yellow or black, is a great producer of honey, and while in 
bloom the bees will swarm around it to the neglect of other 
flowers. White clover is of great value everywhere, and contin- 
ues to blossom about two months, yielding superior honey. 
Tulip trees, called by some whitewood, blossom soon after the 
appearance of white clover, and secrete much pure saccharine 
matter; nearly one-fourth of a teaspoonful is often contained 
in one of its large bell-shaped flowers. The catnip, borage, 
strawberry, the buttonbush, blackberry, persimmon, melilot 
clover, sourwood, mignonette, hoarhound, motherwort, chest- 
nut, and various kinds of garden flowers, are rich in honey, and 
valuable when in sufficient quantities. About the middle of 
July the linden or basswood opens its ten thousand fragrant 
petals. Where this timber abounds the bees reap a rich harvest. 
Mustard is their especial favorite. A month later buckwheat 
sends forth its blossoms, lasting nearly five weeks, and in fav- 
orable seasons this is the principal fall supply. A further 
supply of honey is furnished by the goldenrod, fireweed, 
smartweed, boneset, asters, of various kinds, and the yel- 
low Spanish-needle. The smartweed seems to be a summer 
as well as a fall plant, and, with the Spanish-needle and bone- 



164 BEES AND HONEY; OR 

set, yields a chief supply in the Northwest. Goldenrod and 
aster are produced chiefly in the Middle States, furnishing in 
some seasons immense supplies of honey. 

Honey as a Remedy for Ailments 

The Herald of Health, is high medical sanction. In its 
issue for Nov., 1872, in answer to a question, "Is Honey Whole- 
some?" it says: "Yes; used in moderation, it is." It then adds: 
"A German teacher has lately written a work on the sub- 
ject of honey and its healing properties. While he may over- 
estimate its value, what he says is interesting. We quote: A 
strong influence for publishing this book was the fact that I, 
a sufferer from hemorrhages, already given up to despair, and 
at the verge of the grave, was saved by the wonderful cura- 
tive powers of honey; and now, thank God, I am freed, not only 
from weakness of my lungs, but rejoice in the possession of 
perfect health. 

"At my first attack, upwards of thirty years ago, powders 
and tea were ordered for me, which benefited me but little. 
I then placed but little confidence in honey, which I had used 
occasionally, and in small quantities. Judging from my pres- 
ent knowledge, I believe that the honey was the only remedy 
that was doing me any good, and it is this that I have to thank 
for the gradual but sure restoration of my health. 

"As my disease increased I began to use cod liver oil, 
which weakened and injured my stomach so that I could hardly 
digest anything more, and my condition became worse and 
worse. Again I returned to honey, when my suffering imme- 
diately began to decrease and disappear. Besides the use of 
honey, I took pains to preserve my breast and lungs from 
injury, which, in my trying situation as public teacher, was 
almost impossible. My disease being caused by the constant 
teaching during so many years, I gave up my profession, and 
honey was my only medicine, whereby I, by the simplest, 
safest, quickest and pleasantest manner (for I was fond of 
honey), relieved the disease in my throat; and out of thank- 
fulness I now write this book for the use and benefit of many, 
especially for the use of those suffering from disease of the 
throat and lungs." 

This German teacher is none other than Karl Gatter, with 
whom we had a pleasant visit in 1879, in the city of Vienna, 
Austria. He was then in excellent health and buoyant spirits, 
and was enthusiastic in the praise of honey for curing his 
maladies, reviving his spirits, and giving him a new lease of 
life by which to enjoy the renewed vigor obtained by the 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 165 

plentiful use of honey. From this gentleman we quote still 
further, on the same subject. He says: 

"In medicine, and especially in the healing of wounds, 
was honey, already in early times, used as a universal remedy; 
it yet constitutes the principal ingredient of several medical 
preparations, is used with the best results in many internal and 
external diseases; serves as a means for taking powders, for the 
preparation of salves and the sweetening of medicine. 

"Honey mollifies; promotes festering; causes gentle purg- 
ing, divides and dissolves, warms, nourishes, stops pains, 
strengthens the tone of the stomach, carries away all superf- 
luous moisture, aids digestion, thins and purifies the blood, 
and animates and strengthens the breast, nerves and lungs. 
Honey is therefore to be used when suffering with a cough, 
hoarseness, stoppage of the lungs, shortness of breath, and 
especially with the best results, in all affections of the chest. 

"Many persons afflicted with various species of consump- 
tion, thank the use of good honey, either for their entire res- 
toration to health, or for the mitigation of their often painful 
condition of body and mind. 

"Honey is also an excellent remedy for the occasional 
inactivity of the abdominal organs, and a means of strength- 
ening weak nerves. For severe coughing, barley-water mixed 
with honey and the juice of lemons, drank warm, is a pleas- 
ant relief. It appeases and mitigates fevers, and owing to its 
taste and its soothing qualities, it is used as a gargle. 

"Honey can also be used with advantage in asthma, in 
constipation, in sore throat; promotes perspiration, lessens 
phlegm, and is very healing to the chest, sore from coughing. 

"With old persons, the use of honey is very useful, since 
it produces warmth and a certain activity of the skin. For 
persons leading a sedentary life, and suffering from costiveness, 
and especially from piles, pure unadulterated^ honey, either 
mixed in their drink, used alone, or on bread, is the best and 
healthiest means of relief. 

"Honey has also great relief as a medicine for_ children, 
and is readily partaken of by them as a choice dainty dish. 
It is especially useful to children afflicted with scrofula or 
rickets. In difficult teething, rub the gums with a mixture of 
honey and an emulsion of quinces. For the removing of 
worms, honey has often been beneficially used, and it is often 
used in diseases of the mouth and throat. 

"Honey mixed with flour and spread on linen or leather is 
a simple remedy for bringing to head, or to maturity, boils, 
etc. Also, honey with flour or fried onions, serves an excellent 
purpose as a covering for any hard swelling or callosity or 
abscess; and for ulcers it is often mixed with turpentine, tar, 
and tincture of myrrh. A plaster made of unslacked lime and 
honey has sometimes relieved most obstinate sciatica. 

"If good honey is applied to inflamed wounds or boils, it 
lessens the drawing, quiets the pain and produces a good fes- 
tering or suppuration. Undoubtedly, for all wounds, pustulous 



166 BEES and honey; or 

inflammations, bruises and bad festerings, honey is the best 
and most reliable remedy, and affords quicker and safer help 
that all other known plasters; all that is needed is to spread 
it rather thick on a piece of linen, place it upon the fresh 
wound, bind it fast, and renew the plaster every four or five 
hours. Of course, if bones are broken, surgical aid must be 
had. 

"Honey-dough — arto mele — a plaster made out of honey 
and rye flour or rye bread, into which henbane or other nar- 
cotic substance is mixed, is an excellent means of irritation; 
which should be used in festering and bringing the sore to a 
head, and assuages the drawing and pain. It should be warmed, 
spread on a piece of linen and placed upon the sore part. 

"For persons who are weakened through fast living, honey 
is, of all helps, the best nourishment, since it not only removes 
the poisons in the system, but also through its virtues strength- 
ens the system; hence it has made itself necessary to the 
inhabitants of the Orient." 

Honey is beneficial in pectoral diseases, acts as an excel- 
lent detergent, and as a gentle laxative. In ancient times 
the free and regular use of it as an article of diet, was re- 
garded as a means of securing long life; and it thus came 
to be popularly considered as a specific against disease. 

Honey is a sedative of no ordinary power. A friend who 
is a practising physician, mentions one of his patients, whose 
habits of observation were seldom equaled, having by the kick 
of a horse one of his knee-joints badly broken, the pain and 
anguish being very severe, his daughter offered him some wine 
or tea. He declined, but said she might give him some honey. 
Dr. A. remarks: "My own observations justify the wisdom of 
his selection. Try it." 

An admirable preparation for coughs, especially during 
feverish or inflammatory attacks, is composed of honey, olive 
oil, lemon juice and sweet spirits of nitre — each, one fluid ounce 
— to be taken several times a day, in half fluid-dram doses. 

Honey is nutritive and laxative, and is employed largely 
in the preparation of medicine. In diseases of the bladder and 
kidneys, honey is an excellent remedy. 

Prescriptions Calling for Honey 

Honey and Tar Cough Cure. — Put one tablespoonful liquid 
tar into a shallow tin dish, and place it in boiling water until 
the tar is hot. To this add a pint of extracted honey, and stir 
well for half an hour, adding to it a level teaspoonful pulver- 
ized borax. Keep well corked in a bottle. Dose, one teaspoon- 
ful every one, two, or three hours, according to severity of 
cough. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING I67 

Honey as a Tape-Worm Remedy. — Peeled pumpkin seeds, 
three ounces; honey, two ounces; water, eight ounces. Make 
an emulsion. Take half, fasting in the morning; remaining, 
half an hour later. In three hour's time two ounces of castor- 
oil should be administered. Used with great success. — Medical 
Brief. 

Honey for Erysipelas is used locally by spreading it on a 
suitable cloth and applying to the parts. The application is 
renewed every three or four hours. In all cases in which the 
remedy has been employed, entire relief from the pain followed 
immediately, and convalescence was brought about in three 
or four days. 

Honey for Dyspepsia. — A young man who was troubled 
with dyspepsia, and the more medicine he took the worse he 
became, was advised to try honey and graham gems for break- 
fast. He did so, and commenced to gain, and now enjoys as 
good health as the average man, and he does not take medicine, 
either. Honey is the only food taken into the stomach that 
leaves no residue; it requires no action of the stomach what- 
ever to digest it, as it is merely absorbed and taken up into 
the system by the action of the blood. Honey is the natural 
foe to dyspepsia and indigestion, as well as a food for the 
human system. 

Honey for Old People's Coughs. — Old people's coughs are 
as distinct as that of children, and require remedies especially 
adapted to them. They are known by constant tickling in the 
pit of the throat — just where the Adam's apple projects — and 
caused by phlegm that accumulates there, which, in their weak- 
ened condition, they are unable to expectorate. 

Take a fair-sized onion — a good, strong one — and let it 
simmer in a quart of honey for several hours, after which strain 
and take a teaspoonful frequently. It eases the cough won- 
derfully, though it may not cure. 

Honey for Stomach Cough. — All mothers know what a 
stomach cough is — caused by an irritation of that organ, fre- 
quently attended with indigestion. The child often "throws up" 
after coughing. 

Dig down to the roots of a wild cherry-tree, and peel off 
a handful of the bark, put it into a pint of water, and boil 
down to a teacupful. Put this tea into a quart of honey, and 
then give a teaspoonful every hour or two. It is pleasant, 
and if the child should also have worms, which often happens, 
they are pretty apt to be disposed of, as they have no love for 
the wild-cherry flavor. 

Swiss Remedy for a Cold Settling on the Chest.— Boil a 
quart of pure spring water; add as much camomile as can be 
grasped in three fingers, and three teaspoonfuls of* honey, and 
cover tight. The vessel is then to be removed from the fire 
and set on a table at which the patient can comfortably seat 
himself. Throwing a woolen cloth over the patient's head so 
as to include the vessel, he is to remove the cover and inhale 
tfie vapors as deeply as possible through the mouth and nose, 
occasionally stirring the mixture until it is cold, and then retire 



168 BEES and honey; or 

to a warmed bed. In obstinate cases the treatment should 
be repeated for three evenings. 

Honey Croup Remedy.— This is best known to the med- 
ical profession, and is an infallible remedy in all cases of mu- 
cous and spasmodic croup: Raw linseed oil, two ounces; tinc- 
ture of blood-root, two drams; tincture of lobelia, two drams; 
tincture of aconite, one-half dram; honey, four ounces. Mix, 
dose, one-half to one teaspoonful every fifteen to twenty min- 
utes, according to the urgency of the case. It is also excellent 
in all throat and lung troubles originating from a cold. This 
is an excellent remedy in lung trouble: Make a strong decoc- 
tion of hoarhound herb and sweeten with honey. Take a table- 
spoonful four or five times a day. 

Honey on Frost-Bites. — If your ears, fingers, or toes be- 
come frozen nothing will take the frost out of them sooner 
than if wrapped up in honey. The swelling is rapidly reduced, 
and no danger ocurs. 

Honey and Cream for Freckles. — Have you tried a mixture 
of honey and cream — half and half — for freckles? Well, it's 
a good thing. If on the hands, wear gloves when going to 
bed. 

Dr. Kneipp's Honey-Salve. — This is recommended as an ex- 
cellent dressing for sores and boils. Take equal parts of 
honey and flour, add a little water, and stir thoroughly. Don't 
make too thin. Then apply as usual. 

Summer Honey-Drink. — One spoonful of fruit-juice and 
one spoonful honey in one-half glass water; stir in as much 
soda as will lie on a silver dime, and then stir in half as much 
tartaric acid, and drink at once. 

Dr. Peiro's Honey-Salve — for boils and other diseases of a 
similar character — is made by thoroughly incorporating flour 
with honey to a proper consistency to spread on cloth. 
Applied over the boil it hastens suppuration, and the early 
termination of the painful lesion. 

Honey as a Laxative. — In olden times the good effects of 
honey as a remedial agent were well known, but of late little 
use is made thereof. A great mistake, surely. Notably is 
honey valuable in constipation. Not as an immediate cure, 
like some medicines' which momentarily give relief only to leave 
the case worse than ever afterward but by its persistent use 
daily, bringing about a healthy condition of the bowels, enab- 
ling them properly to perform their functions. Many suffer 
daily from an irritable condition, calling themselves nervous, 
and all that sort of thing, not realizing that constipation is 
at the root of the matter, and that a faithful daily use of honey 
fairly persisted in would restore cheerfulness of mind and a 
healthy body. — Le Progres Apicole. 

For Coughs, Colds, Whooping-Cough, etc. — Fill a bell- 
metal kettle with hoarhound leaves and soft water, letting it 
boil until it becomes strong — then strain through a muslin 
cloth, adding as much honey as desired — then cook it in the 
same kettle until the water evaporates, when the candy may 
be poured into shallow vessels and remain until needed, or 
pulled like molasses candy until white. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 169 

Honey Cough Syrup. — This is an excellent remedy for a 
common cough. One dose will often give relief. Stew half 
pint of sliced onions and one gill of sweet oil in a covered dish. 
Then strain and add one gill of good honey;' stir it well and 
cork it up in a bottle. Take a teaspoonful at night before going 
to bed, or any time when the cough is troublesome. 

For Croup. — Honey is an excellent remedy, giving sure and 
prompt relief. 

For Bronchitis. — Take comb honey and squeeze the honey 
out, and dilute it with water. Wet the lips and mouth with 
it occasionally. This has proved an excellent remedy, even 
where children's throats were so much swollen as to prevent 
swallowing food. 

Honey-Salve. — Take two tablespoonfuls of honey, the yolk 
of one egg, and flour to make into a paste. This salve is ex- 
cellent for running sores, of long standing, boils, or sores with 
proud flesh. 

For Asthma honey is an excellent remedy. Mix one ounce 
of castor oil with four ounces of honey. Take one tablespoon- 
ful, night and morning. A simple and beneficial remedy. 

Honey-Wash for Eyes. — Honey is an excellent remedy 
for inflammation of the eyes. Put a few drops of pure liquid 
honey into a teaspoonful of lukewarm water, and stir with the 
finger until thoroughly dissolved; then lie down and drop three 
or four drops into the eye, lying still a few minutes; then wipe 
the face and eyelids, but do not wash out the eye. Repeat this 
four or five times a day, and the last thing before going to bed. 
Follow these directions faithfully and in a few days the in- 
flammation will be entirely gone. 

Gargle for Sore Throat. — Very strong sage tea, one-half 
pint; extracted honey, common salt and strong vinegar, each 
two tablespoonfuls; cayenne pepper, one teaspoonful. Steep 
the pepper with the sage, strain, mix and bottle for use. Gar- 
gle from four to eight times daily, according to the severity 
of the case. 

Honey Cancer - Plaster — White-oak bark, four ounces; 
bruise it well and add urine sufficient to cover it. Infuse four 
days, and boil it until it becomes thick as molasses. Add two 
ounces of honey and two ounces of strained turpentine gum. 
To make this plaster caustic, add two ounces of white vitriol. 
Spread on soft leather, or linen. It may be applied to all kinds 
of ulcers, or white swellings. For cancers it is invaluable. 

Honey-and-Tar Cough Candy. — Boil a double-handful of 
green hoarhound, in two quarts of water, down to one quart. 
Strain, and add to this tea one cup of honey, one cup of sugar, 
and a tablespoonful each of lard and tar. Boil down to a 
candy, but not enough to make it brittle. Begin to eat this, in- 
crease from a piece the size of a pea, to as much as can be 
relished or needed. It is an excellent cough candy, and always 
gives relief in a short time. 

Honey for Sore Eyes.— Mr. S. C. Perry, of Michigan, says: 
"A neighbor of mine had inflammation in his eyes. He tried 
many things and many physicians; was nothing better, but 
rather grew worse, until he was almost entirely blind. His 



170 BEES AND HONEY; OR 

family was sick, and I presented him with a pail of honey. 
What they did not eat he put in his eyes, a drop of two in 
each eye two or three times a day. In three months' time he 
was able to read coarse print, and now after four months' use, 
his eyes are almost as good as ever. I have also found honey 
good for common cold-sore eyes. 

Honey-and-Walnut Cough Candy. — This is made entirely 
of honey, but thickened with walnut kernels. The dose is a 
piece about the size of a pecan. It should not be boiled enough 
to make it brittle. 

Constipation. — Honey, especially the solid parts of the 
granulated, eaten on bread instead of butter, will have the de- 
sired effect. That part of honey which does not granulate, 
possesses this property in a much less degree. A sauce made 
of prunes, boiled and sweetened with honey, is an excellent 
remedy. In dangerous cases apply an injective of milk and 
honey, having the temperature of the blood, about 97° or 
98 ° Fahr. 

Consumption. — Take physical exercise, especially horseback 
riding before breakfast; the body to be rubbed thoroughly with 
a woolen cloth, night and morning; bedroom, an upper story, 
with the windows open day and night; retiring and rising 
early; main diet to consist of farinaceous food and vegetables; 
for drinking, nothing but milk and honey, mixed half and half, 
either warm or cold. 

Croup and Hoarseness. — A gargle made of sage tea, sweet- 
ened with honey, or pills made of mustard, flour and honey. 

Whooping-Cough. — A decoction of wheat bran mixed with 
milk and honey, drank frequently, gives relief. 

Honey for Worms. — Before breakfast take a tablespoonful 
of honey, or a tea made of peppermint sweetened with one- 
third its bulk of honey. 

To Remove Fish-Bones. and similar hard objects which have 
become lodged in the throat, make a large pill of wax (as large 
as can possibly be swallowed, dip in honey and let the patient 
swallow it. 

To Cure a Burn or Scald. — Cover the same instantly with 
honey, keeping it so until the pain ceases. 

Suppressed Perspiration. — (Taking cold.) — Barley soup 
sweetened with honey, drank before retiring; or oatmeal soup 
with honey, drank warm. 

Honey for Asthma. — Grated horseradish mixed with honey; 
one tablespoonful taken before going to bed. 

Rose-Honey (rhodomeli), made of the expressed juice of 
roses and honey extracted from the comb, is held in high 
favor for the sick. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 171 

Honey as an Article of Food 

Pliny speaks of Rumilius Pollio, who possessed marvelous 
health and strength, at over one hundred years of age. Upon 
beingv presented to the Emperor Augustus, who inquired the 
secret of his loveliness of spirit and strength of body at so great 
an age, he answered: "Interus melle; exterus oleo" — Inter- 
nally through honey; externally through oil. 

Among all the myriads of insects, there certainly is none, 
the product of whose industry is more pleasant and tempting 
to the palate — more nutritious and health-giving to the body, 
or more valuable as an article of commerce, than the product 
by the Bee — delicious and immaculately-pure honey. 

How astonishingly appropriate is even its name — Honey! 
Derived from the Hebrew word 'ghoneg,' literally it means 
delight. Humanity may, therefore, delight itself with honey, 
as long as the sun endureth! 

Its early history shows that it was for ages man's principal 
source of nourishment, and wherever civilization extended 
its sway, the "little busy bee" was carried as its companion 
and co-worker in the cause of elevation and refinement. 

Why, then, did honey lose its place as an article of food? 
The introduction of sugar gave it its first blow; its use be- 
came general in the seventeenth century — and as its use in- 
creased, the use of honey decreased, until at length the bee- 
masters' guild was abolished, and the skill and experience of 
the old bee-masters were lost. 

The introduction of the vile compounds, known as "Table 
Syrups," with their impurities and adulterations, has had the 
effect of opening the eyes of consumers, and of re-opening 
for honey its God-given place as an article of food. Instead 
of dealing disease and death promiscuously to those who in- 
dulge in its use, as did these syrups, honey gives mankind, in 
the most agreeable manner, both food and medicine. 

It is a common expression that honey is a luxury, having 
nothing to do with the life-giving principle. This is an error 
— honey is food in one of its most concentrated forms. True, 
it does not add so much to muscle-growth as does beef- 
steak, but it does impart other properties, no less necessary to 
health and vigorous physical and intellectual action! It gives 
warmth to the system, arouses nervous energy, and gives 
vigor to all the vital functions. To the laborer, it gives strength 
—to the business man, mental force. Its effects are not like 



1^2 BEES AND HONEY; OR 

ordinary stimulants, such as spirits, etc., but it produces a 
healthy action, the results of which are pleasing and perma- 
nent — a sweet disposition and a bright intellect. 

The use of honey instead of sugar for almost every kind 
of cooking, is as pleasant for the palate as it is healthy fo*r the 
stomach. In preparing blackberry, raspberry or strawberry 
short cake, it is infinitely superior. 

Pure honey should always be freely used in every family — 
Honey eaten upon wheat bread is very beneficial to health. 

Children would rather eat bread and honey than bread and 
butter; one pound of honey will reach as far as two pounds of 
butter, and has, besides, the advantage that it is far more 
healthy and pleasant-tasting, and always remains good, while 
butter soon becomes rancid and often produces cramp in the 
stomach, eructations, sourness, vomiting, and diarrhoea. 

Well-purified honey has the quality of preserving, for a 
long time in a fresh state, anything that may be laid in it or 
mixed with it, and to prevent its corrupting, in a far superior 
manner to sugar; thus many species of fruit may be pre- 
served by being laid in honey, and by this means will obtain 
a pleasant taste and give to the stomach a healthy tone. One 
who has once tried.it, will not use sugar for preserving fruit. 

In fact, honey may replace sugar as an ingredient in the 
cooking of almost any article of food — and at the same time 
greatly add to its relish. 

Digestion (all-potent in its effect on the mind as well as 
the body) depends largely on the food. Poor food received 
into a poor stomach is the cause of many unhappy homes — 
while good, healthy food, received into a healthy stomach be- 
comes "An Angel of Peace" to many a household. 

The following paragraphs are from a small pamphlet pre- 
pared by Dr. C. C. Miller, an authority not only on bees, but 
also on honey and its uses: 

Honey as a Wholesome Food 

About 85 pounds of sugar on the average is annually con- 
sumed by every man, woman and child in the United States. 
Of course, many use less than the average, but to make up 
for it some consume several times as much. It is only within 
the last few centuries that sugar has become known, and only 
within the last generation that refined sugars have become so 
low in price that they may be commonly used in the poorest 
families. Formerly honey was the principal sweet, and it was 
one of the items sent as a propitiatory offering by Jacob to his 
unrecognized son, the chief ruler of Egypt, 3,000 years before 
the first sugar-refinery was built, 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 1 73 

It would be greatly for the health of the present genera- 
tion if honey could be at least partially restored to its former 
place as a common article of diet. The almost universal crav- 
ing for sweets of some kind shows a real need of the system 
in that direction, but the excessive use of sugar brings in its 
train a long list of ills. Besides the various disorders of the 
alimentary canal, that dread scourge — Bright's disease of the 
kidneys — is credited with being one of the results of sugar- 
eating. When cane-sugar is taken into the stomach, it cannot 
be assimilated until first changed by digestion into grape-sugar. 
Only too often the overtaxed stomach fails properly to per- 
form this digestion, then comes sour stomach and various 
dyspeptic phases. Prof. A. J. Cook says: 

"If cane-sugar is absorbed without change, it will be re- 
moved by the kidneys, and may result in their break-down; 
and physicians may be correct in asserting that the large con- 
sumption of cane-sugar by the 20th century man is harmful 
to the great eliminators — the kidneys — and so a menace to 
health and long life." 

Now, in the wonderful laboratory of the bee-hive there is 
found a sweet that needs no further digestion, having been 
prepared fully by those wonderful chemists — the bees — for 
prompt assimilation without taxing stomach or kidneys. As 
Prof. Cook says: "There can be no doubt but that in eating 
honey our digestive machinery is saved work that it would 
have to perform if we ate cane-sugar; and in case it is over- 
taxed and feeble, this may be just the respite that will save 
from a breakdown." 

A. I. Root says: "Many people who cannot eat sugar with- 
out having unpleasant symptoms follow, will find by careful 
test that they can eat good, well-ripened honey without any 
difficulty at all." 

Honey the Most Delicious Sauce 

Not only is honey the most wholesome of all sweets, but 
it is the most delicious. No preparation of man can equal the 
delicate flavored product of the hive. Millions of flowers are 
brought under tribute, presenting their tiny cups of dainty 
nectar to be gathered by the busy riflers; and when they have 
brought it to the proper consistency, and stored it in the won- 
drously-wrought waxen cells, and sealed it with coverings of 
snowy whiteness, no more tempting dish can grace the table 
at the most lavish banquet; and yet its cost is so moderate 
that it may well find its place on the tables of the common 
people every day in the week. 

It is Economy to Use Honey 

Indeed, in many cases it may be a matter of real economy 
to lessen the butter-bill by letting honey in part take its place. 
A pound of honey will go about as far as a pound of butter; 
and if both articles be of the best quality the honey will, cost 
the less of the two. Often a prime article of extracted honey 
(equal to comb honey in every respect except appearance) 
can be obtained for about half the price of butter. Butter is at 



174 



BEES AND HONEY! OR 



its best only when "fresh," while honey, properly kept, remains 
indefinitely good — no need to hurry it out of the way for fear 
it may become rancid. 

Give Children Honey 

Prof. Cook says: "We all know how children long for 
candy. This longing voices a need, and is another evidence 
of the necessity of sugar in our diet. * * * Children should be 
given all the honey at each meal-time that they will eat. It is 
safer, will largely do away with the inordinate longing for 
candy and other sweets; and in lessening the desire will doubt- 
less diminish the amount of cane-sugar, eaten. Then if cane- 
sugar does work mischief with health, the harm may be pre- 
vented." 

Ask the average child whether he will have honey alone 
on his bread or butter alone, and almost invariably he will 




A Pailful of the Sweetest "Honey. 



promptly answer, "Honey." Yet seldom are the needs or the 
tastes of the child properly consulted. The old man craves fat 
meat. The child loathes it. He wants sweet, not fat. He 
delights to eat honey; it is a wholesome food for him, and is 
not expensive. Why should he not have it? 

Honey Best to Sweeten Hot Drinks 

Sugar is much used in hot drinks, as in coffee and tea. 
The substitution of a mild-flavored honey in such uses may be 
a very profitable thing for the health. Indeed, it would be 
better for the health if the only hot drink were what is called 
in Germany "honey-tea" — a cup of hot water with one or two 
tablespoonfuls of extracted honey, The attainment oi gr eat 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 175 

age has in some cases been attributed largely to the life-long 
use of honey-tea. 

Comb and Extracted Honey 

At the present day honey is placed on the market in two 
forms — in the comb, and extracted. "Strained" honey, obtained 
by mashing or melting combs containing bees, pollen, and 
honey, has rightly gone out of use. Extracted honey is simply 
honey thrown out of the comb in a machine called a honey- 
extractor. The combs are revolved rapidly in a cylinder, and 
centrifugal force throws out the honey. The comb remains 
uninjured, and is returned to the hive to be refilled again and 
again. For this reason extracted honey is usually sold at a less 
price than comb honey, because each pound of comb is made 
at the expense of several pounds of honey. 

Different Kinds and Flavors 

Many people think "honey is honey" — all just alike; but 
this is a great mistake. Honey may be of good, heavy body — 
what bee-keepers call "well-ripened" — weighing generally about 
twelve pounds to the gallon, or it may be quite thin. It may 
also be granulated, or candied, more solid than lard. It may 
be almost as colorless as water, and it may be as black as the 
darkest molasses. The flavor of honey varies according to the 
flower from which it is obtained. It would be impossible to 
describe in words the flavors of the different honeys. You may 
easily distinguish the odor of a rose from that of a carnation, 
but you might find it difficult to describe them in words so 
that a novice smelling them for the first time could tell which 
was which. But the different flavors in honey are just as dis- 
tinct as the colors in flowers. Among the light-colored honeys 
are white clover, linden (or basswood), sage, sweet clover, 
alfalfa, willow-herb, etc., and among the darker are found 
heartsease, magnolia (or poplar), horse-mint, buckwheat, etc. 

Care of Honey — Where to Keep It 

The average housekeeper will put honey in the cellar for 
safe keeping — about the worst place possible. Honey readily 
attracts moisture, and in the cellar extracted honey will be- 
come thin, and in time may sour; and with comb honey the 
case is still worse, for the appearance as well as the quality 
is changed. The beautiful white surface becomes watery and 
darkened, drops of water ooze through the cappings, and weep 
over the surface. Instead of keeping honey in a place moist 
and cool, keep it dry and warm, even hot. It will not hurt 
to be in a temperature of even 100 degrees. Where salt will 
keep dry is a good place for honey. Few places are better than 
the kitchen cupboard. Up in a hot garret next the roof is a 
good place, and if it has had enough hot days there through 
the summer, it will stand the freezing of winter; for under 
ordinary circumstances, freezing cracks the combs, and will 
hasten the granulation or candying. 



iy6 BEES AND HONEY,* OR 

Granulated Honey — To Reliquefy 

When honey is kept for any length of time it has a ten- 
dency to change from its clear liquid condition, and becomes 
granulated or candied. This is not to be taken as any evi- 
dence against its genuineness, but rather the contrary. Some 
prefer it in the candied state, but the majority prefer it liquid. 
It is an easy matter to restore it to its former liquid condition. 
Simply keep it in hot water long enough, but not too hot. If 
heated above one hundred and sixty degrees there is danger 
of spoiling the color and ruining the flavor. Remember that 
honey contains the most delicate of all flavors— that of the 
flowers from which it is taken. A good way is to set the 
vessel containing the honey inside another vessel containing 
hot water, not allowing the bottom of the one to rest directly 
on the bottom of the other, but putting a bit of wood or some- 
thing of the kind between. Let it stand on the stove, but do 
not let the water boil. It may take half a day or longer to 
melt the honey. If the honey is set directly on the reservoir 
of a cook-stove, it will be all right in a few days. In time it 
will granulate again, when it may again be melted. 

Adulteration of Honey 

In these days of prevailing adulteration, when so often 
"things are not what they seem," it is a comfort to know that 
strictly pure honey, both extracted and comb, can still be had, 
and at a reasonable price. The silly stories seen from time to 
time in the papers about artificial combs being filled with glu- 
cose, and deftly sealed over with a hot iron, have not the 
slightest foundation in fact. For years there has been a stand- 
ing offer by one whose financial responsibility is unquestioned, 
of d$i,poo for a single pound of comb honey made without the 
intervention of bees. The offer remains untaken, and will 
probably always remain so, for the highest art of man can 
never compass such delicate workmanship as the skill of the 
bee accomplishes. C. C. Miller, M. D. 

Recipes Calling for Honey 

Mrs. York's Honey-Graham Bread. — One cupful milk; one 
teaspoonful of soda dissolved in warm water, and beaten into 
the milk; one-half teaspoonful of salt; one-half cupful of honey; 
two cupfuls of graham flour. Bake forty-five minutes in a 
moderate oven. A very delicious graham bread. Try it. 

Oberlin Honey Fruit-Cake. — One-half cup butter, three- 
quarters cup honey, one-third cup apple jelly or boiled cider, 
two eggs well beaten, one teaspoonful soda, one teaspoonful 
each of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, one teacupful each of 
raisins and dried currants. Warm the butter, honey, and apple 
jelly slightly, add the beaten eggs, then the soda dissolved in 
a little warm water; add spices and flour enough to make a 
stiff batter, then stir in the fruit and bake in a slow oven. 
Keep in a covered jar several weeks before using. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 1 77 

Honey-Gems. — Two quarts flour, three tablespoonfuls melted 
lard, three-quarters pint honey, one-half pint of molasses, four 
heaping teaspoonfuls brown sugar, one and one-half level tea- 
spoonful soda, one level teaspoonful salt, one-eighth pint 
water, one-half teaspoonful extract of vanilla. 

Honey-Jumbles. — Two quarts flour, three tablespoonfuls 
melted lard,, one pint honey, one-quarter pint molasses, one 
and one-half level tablespoonfuls soda, one level teaspoonful 
salt, one-quarter pint water, one-half teaspoonful vanilla. 

The jumbles and the gems immediately preceding are 
from recipes used by bakeries and confectioners on a large 
scale, one firm in Wisconsin alone using ten tons of honey an- 
nually in their manufacture. 

Aikin's Honey-Cookies. — One teacupful extracted honey, one 
pint sour cream, scant teaspoonful soda, flavoring if desired, 
flour to make a soft dough. 

Soft Honey-Cake. — One cup butter, two cups honey, two 
eggs, one cup sour milk, two teaspoonfuls soda, one teaspoon- 
full ginger, one teaspoonful cinnamon, four cups flour. 

Ginger Honey-Cake. — One cup honey, one-half cup butter, 
or drippings, one teaspoonful boiled cider, in half a cup of 
hot water (or one-half cup of sour milk will do instead). 
Warm these ingredients together, and then add one teaspoon- 
ful ginger and one teaspoonful soda sifted in with flour enough 
to make a soft batter. Bake in a flat pan. — Chalon Fowls. 

Oberlin Honey Layer-Cake. — Two-thirds cup of butter, one 
cup honey, three eggs beaten, one-half cup milk. Cream the 
butter and honey together, then add the eggs and milk. Then 
add two cups flour containing one and one-half teaspoonfuls 
baking-powder previously stirred in. Then stir in flour to make 
a stiff batter. Bake in jelly-tins. When the cakes are cold, 
take finely flavored candied honey, and after creaming it, spread 
between the layers. 

Honey Shortcake. — Three cups flour, two teaspoonfuls bak- 
ing-powder, one teaspoonful salt, one-half cup shortening, one 
and one-half cups sweet milk. Roll quickly, and bake in a hot 
oven. When done, split the cake and spread the lower half 
thinly with butter, and the upper half with one-half pound of 
the best flavored honey. (Candied honey is preferred. If too 
hard to spread well it should be slightly warmed or creamed 
with a knife.) Let it stand a few # minutes, and the honey will 
melt gradually, and the flavor will permeate all through the 
cake. To be eaten with milk. 

Honey Nut-Cake. — Eight cups sugar, two cups honey, four 
cups milk or water. One pound almonds, one pound English 
walnuts, three cents worth each of candied lemon and orange 
peel, five cents' worth citron (the last three cut fine), two large 
tablespoonfuls soda, two teaspoonfuls cinnamon, two teaspoon- 
fuls ground cloves. Put the milk, sugar, and honey on the stove 
to boil fifteen minutes; skim off the skum, and take from the 
stove. Put in the nuts, spices, and candied fruit. Stir in as 
much flour as can be done with a spoon. Set away to cool, 
then mix in the soda (don't make the dough too stiff.) Cover 



I78 BEES AND HONEY; OR 

up and let stand over night, then work in enough flour to make 
a stiff dough. Bake when you get ready. It is well to let it 
stand a few days, as it will not stick so badly. Roll out a little 
thicker than a common cooky, cut in any shape you like. 

This recipe originated in Germany, is old and tried, and the 
cake will keep a year or more. — Mrs. E Smith. 

Oberlin Honey-Cookies. — Three teaspoonfuls soda dis- 
solved in two cups warm honey, one cup shortening containing 
salt, two teaspoonfuls ginger, one cup hot water, flour sufficient 
to roll. 

Honey Tea-Cake. — One cup honey, one-half cup sour cream, 
two eggs, one-half cup butter, two cups flour, scant one-half 
teaspoonful soda, one teaspoonful cream-of-tartar. Bake thirty 
minutes in a moderate oven. — Miss M. Candler. 

Honey Caramels. — One cup of extracted honey of best flav- 
or, one cup granulated sugar, three tablespoonfuls sweet cream 
or milk. Boil to "soft crack," or until it hardens when dropped 
into cold water, but not too brittle — just so it will form into 
a soft ball when taken in the fingers. Pour into a greased dish, 
stirring in a teaspoonful extract of vanilla just before taking 
off. Let it be one-half or three-quarters inch deep in the dish; 
and as it cools, cut in squares and wrap each square in paraf- 
fine paper, such as grocers wrap butter in. To make chocolate- 
caramels, add to the foregoing one tablespoonful melted choc- 
olate, just before taking off the stove, stirring it in well. For 
chocolate-caramels it is not so important that the honey be of 
the best quality.— C. C. Miller. 

Honey Grape-Jelly. — Stew the grapes until soft; mash and 
strain them through cheese-cloth, and to each quart of juice 
add one quart of honey, and boil it until it is thick enough to 
suit. Keep trying by dipping out a spoonful and cooling it. 
If you get it too thick it will candy. Any other fruit-juice 
treat just the same. 

Moore's Honey Ginger-Snaps. — One pint of honey, one tea- 
spoonful of ginger, and one teaspoonful of soda, dissolved in 
a little water, and two eggs. Mix all, then work in all the flour 
possible, roll very thin, and bake in a moderately hot oven. 
Any flavoring extracts can be added, as you may wish. 

Moore's Honey Jumbles or Cookies are made in the same 
way as the above, without any sugar or syrup, but add some 
shortening. In using honey for any kind of cakes, the dough 
must be as stiff with flour as possible, to keep them from run- 
ning out of the stove. 

To Spice Apples, Pears or Peaches. — One quart of best 
vinegar, one-half ounce each of cloves and stick cinnamon. 
Boil all together fifteen minutes, then put in the fruit, and 
cook tender. Put in a stone jar with enough of the syrup to 
cover the fruit. It will keep as long as wanted. 

For Sugar-Curing One Hundred Pounds of Meat. — Eight 
pounds of salt, one quart of honey, two ounces of saltpeter, 
and three gallons of water. Mix, and boil until dissolved, then 
pour it hot on the meat. 

Mrs. Barber's Honey-Candy. — One quart honey, one small 
teacup of granulated sugar, butter size of an egg, two table- 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 179 

spoonfuls strong vinegar. Boil until it will harden when 
dropped into cold water, then stir in one small teaspoonful of 
baking soda. Pour into buttered plates to cool. Without the 
vinegar and soda it can be pulled or worked a long time, and 
is just the thing for an old-fashioned candy-pull, as it is not 
sticky, and yet is soft enough to pull nicely. 

Scripture Honey-Cake.— One cupful of butter— Judges 1:25; 
three and one-half cupfuls of flour — I Kings iv. 20; two cupfuls 
of sugar — Jeremiah vi. 20; two cupfuls of raisins — I Samuel 
xxx. 12; two cupfuls of figs — I Samuel xxx. 12; one cupful of 
water — Genesis xxiv. 17; one cupful of almonds — Genesis xiii. 
n; little salt — Leviticus ii. 13; six eggs — Isaiah x. 14; one large 
spoonful of honey — Exodus xvi. 31; sweet spices to taste — I 
Kings x. 2. , 

Follow Solomon's advice for making good boys, and you 
will have a good cake — Prov. xxiii. 14. Sift two teaspoonfuls 
of baking-powder into the flour; pour boiling water on the 
almonds to remove the skins, seed the raisins, and chop the 
figs. It makes one large or two small cakes. 

Mrs. Barber's Honey-Cookies. — One large teacupful of hon- 
ey. One egg broken into the cup the honey was measured in, 
then two large spoonfuls sour milk, and fill the cup with butter 
or good beef dripping. Put in one teaspoonful of soda and 
flour to make a soft dough. Bake in a moderate oven a light 
brown. 

Gotham Honey Ginger-Cake. — Rub three-quarters of a 
pound of butter into a pound of sifted flour; add a teacupful 
of brown sugar, two tablespoonfuls each of ground ginger and 
caraway seed. Beat five eggs, and stir in the mixture, alter- 
nately, with a pint of extracted honey. Beat all together until 
very light. Turn into a shallow square pan, and set in a mod- 
erate oven to bake one hour. When done, let cool and cut 
into squares. 

Mrs. Aikin's Honey Apple-Butter. — One gallon good cook- 
ing apples, one quart honey, one quart honey-vinegar, one 
heaping teaspoonful ground cinnamon. Cook several hours, 
stirring to prevent burning. If the vinegar is very strong, use 
part water. 

Howell's Hard Honey-Cake. — Take six pounds of flour, 
three pounds honey, one and one-half pounds of sugar, one 
and one-half pounds of butter, six eggs, one-half ounce saleratus; 
ginger to your taste. Have the flour in a pan or tray. Pack 
a cavity in the center. Beat the honey and yolk of eggs^ to- 
gether well. Beat the butter and sugar to cream, and put into 
the cavity in the flour; then add the honey and yolks of the 
eggs. Mix well with the hand, adding a little at a time^ during 
the mixing, the one-half ounce of saleratus dissolved in boil- 
ing water until it is all in. Add the ginger, and^ finally add the 
whites of the six eggs, well beaten. Mix well with the hand to 
a smooth dough. Divide the dough into seven equal parts, 
and roll out like gingerbread. Bake in ordinary square pans 
made for pies, from ten-by-fourteen inch tin. After putting 
into the pans, mark off the top in one-half inch strips with 
something sharp. Bake an hour in a moderate oven, Be care- 



l80 BEES AND HONEY; OR 

ful not to burn, but bake well. Dissolve sugar to glaze over 
top of cake. To keep the cake, stand on end in an oak tub, 
tin can, or^stone crock — crock is best. Stand the cards up so 
the flat sides will not touch each other. Cover tight. Keep 
in a cool, dry place. Don't use until three months old, at least. 
The cake improves with age, and will keep good as long as you 
will let it. Any cake sweetened with honey does not dry out 
like sugar or molasses cake, and age improves or develops the 
honey-flavor, This recipe has been used with unvarying suc- 
cess and satisfaction for one hundred years in the family that 
reports. A year's supply of this cake can be made up at one 
time, if desired. 

Maria Fraser's Honey-Jumbles. — Two cups honey, one cup 
butter, four eggs (mix well), one cup buttermilk (mix), one 
good quart of flour, one level teaspoonful soda or saleratus. 
If it is too thin, stir in a little more flour. If too thin it will 
fall. It does not want to be as thin as sugar-cake. Use very 
thick honey. Be sure to use the same cup for measure. Be 
sure to mix the honey, eggs and butter well together. 

Honey Fruit-Cake. — Take one and one-half cups of honey, 
two-thirds cup of butter, one-half cup of sweet milk, three 
eggs well beaten, three cups of flour, two teaspoonfuls of bak- 
ing-powder, two cups raisins, one teaspoonful each of cloves 
and cinnamon, 

Honey Ginger-Snaps. — One pint honey, three-quarters 
pound of butter, two teaspoonfuls of ginger, boil together a 
few minutes, and when nearly cold put in flour until it Js stiff; 
roll out thin and bake quickly. 

Mrs. Minnick's Soft Honey-Cake. — Put scant teaspoonful 
soda in teacup, pour five tablespoonfuls hot water on the soda, 
then fill the cup with extracted honey. Take one-half cup of 
butter and one egg and beat together; add two cups of flour 
and one teaspoonful of ginger; stir all together, and bake in a 
very slow oven. 

Honey Lemon-Cake. — One cup butter, two cups honey, 
four eggs well beaten, teaspoonful essence of lemon, half cup 
sour milk, teaspoonful soda, flour enough to make it as stiff as 
can well be stirred, bake at once in a quick oven. 

Muth's Honey-Cakes. — One gallon of honey (dark honey 
is best), fifteen eggs, three pounds of sugar (a little more honey 
in its place may be better), one and a half ounces of baking 
soda, two ounces of hartshorn, two pounds of almonds 
(chopped up), two pounds of citron, four ounces of cinnamon, 
two ounces of cloves, two ounces of mace, eighteen pounds 
of flour. Let the honey come to almost a boil; then let it cool 
off again, and add the ingredients. Cut out and bake. The 
cakes are iced afterwards with sugar and the white of eggs. 

Honey Apple-Cakes. — Soak three cups of dried apples over 
night; chop slightly, and simmer in two cups of honey for two 
hours, then add one and a half coffee cups of honey, one-half 
coffee cup of sugar, one coffee cup of melted butter, three eggs, 
two tablespoonfuls of saleratus; cloves, cinnamon, powdered 
lemon or orange peel, and ginger syrup, if you have it. Mix 
all together, add the apples and then flour enough for a stiff 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING l8l 

batter. Bake in a slow oven. This will make two good-sized 
cakes. 

Honey Fruit-Cake. — Four eggs, five cups of flour, two cups 
of honey, one teacupful butter, one cup sweet milk, two tea- 
spoonfuls cream of tartar, one teasponful soda, one pound rais- 
ins, one pound currants, one-half pound citron, one teaspoonful 
each cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg; bake in a large loaf in a 
slow oven. This will be nice months after baking as well as 
when fresh. 

Honey Sponge-Cake. — One large coffee cup full of honey, 
one cup of flour, five eggs. Beat yolks and honey together, 
beat the whites to a froth; mix all together, stirring as little 
as possible; flavor with lemon juice or extract. 

Railroad Honey-Cake. — One cup of honey, one heaping cup 
flour, one teaspoonful cream of tartar, half teaspoonful soda, 
three eggs and a little lemon juice; stir all together ten minutes. 
Bake twenty minutes in a quick oven. 

Honey Tea-Cakes. — Three pounds and a half of flour; one 
pound and a half of honey; half a pound of sugar; half a 
pound of butter; half a nutmeg grated; one tablespoonful of 
ground ginger; one teaspoonful of saleratus, or carbonate of 
soda. Mix the sugar with the flour and grated ginger, and 
work the whole into a smooth dough with the butter beaten to 
a cream, the honey and saleratus, or soda, dissolved in a little 
hot. water. Roll it a quarter of an inch thick, cut it into small 
cakes, and bake them twenty-five minutes in a moderate oven. 

Honey-Cookies. — Mix a quart of extracted honey with half 
a pound of powdered white sugar, half a pound of fresh butter 
and the juice of two oranges or lemons. Warm these ingred- 
ients slightly, just enough to soften the butter, and then stir 
the mixture very hard, adding a grated nutmeg. Mix in grad- 
ually two pounds or less of sifted flour, make it into a dough 
just stiff enough to roll out easily, and beat it well all over with 
a rolling pin, then roll it out into a large sheet half an inch 
thick, cut it into round cakes with the top of a tumbler dipped 
frequently in flour, lay them in shallow tin pans slightly but- 
tered, and bake them. 

Honey-Cakes. — Three cups of honey, four cups sour milk, 
half cup butter, soda to sweeten the milk; mix rather stiff. 

Honey Ginger-Snaps. — One pint honey, three-quarter pound 
of butter, two teaspoonfuls of ginger, boil together a few min- 
utes, and when nearly cold put in flour until it is stiff, roll out 
thin and bake quickly. 

Honey-Pudding. — Three pints thinly sliced apples, one pint 
honey, one pint flour, one pint corn-meal, small piece butter, 
one teaspoonful soda, the juice of two lemons and their grated 
rinds; stir the dry soda into the honey, then add the apples, 
melted butter and a little salt; now add the lemon rind and 
juice and at once stir in the flour. Bake one hour. Serve hot 
or cold with sauce. , 

Grapes Preserved with Honey. — Take seven pounds of 
sound grapes on the stem, the branches as perfect as possible, 
pack them snugly without breaking, in a stone jar. Make a 
syrup of four pounds of honey, one pint good vinegar, with 



l82 BEES AND HONEY; OR 

cloves and cinnamon to suit (about three ounces of each), boil 
well together for twenty minutes skim well, then turn boiling 
hot over the grapes and seal immediately. They will keep for 
years, if you wish, and are exceedingly nice. Apples, peaches 
and plums may be done in this way. 

Preserving Fruits.— Put honey and fruit in a vessel, then 
put the vessel in a kettle of water and boil, the same as with 
sugar. 

Honey Liquorice. — Honey and strong infusion of liquorice 
boiled to a proper consistency. 

Honey Preserves. — All kinds of fruit made into jam, with 
honey instead of sugar are nice. "Butter" made with extracted 
honey is much nicer than when made with sugar. For grapes, 
pick from the stem and pack into a jar until it is full, then turn 
cold honey over them until they are covered well. Seal up 
without any heat, and keep in a cool place. After a few months 
they will be found to be delicious. 

Honey-Foam. — Prepared by beating, with the addition of 
a small quantity of white of eggs. It is used to brush over 
cakes and confectionery before baking. 

Honey can be used in cooking anything, just as sugar is 
used, merely using less milk or water than called for when 
sugar is used, on account of honey being a liquid. 

Milk, Bread and Honey. — Take a bowl of milk, and break 
some light wheat bread and also some white comb honey into 
it. This is delicious — the proverbial "milk and honey" of the 
ancients. 

Honey-Cake. — One quart of extracted honey, one-half pint 
sugar, one-half pint melted butter, one teaspoonful soda, dis- 
solved in one-half teacup of warm water, one-half of a nutmeg 
and one teaspoonful of ginger. Mix these ingredients and then 
work in flour and roll. Cut in thin cakes and bake on buttered 
tins in a quick oven. 

German Honey-Cake. — Three and one-half pounds of flour, 
one and one-half pounds of honey, one-half pound of sugar, 
one-half pound of butter, half of grated nutmeg, one-sixth of 
an ounce of ginger, one-quarter of an ounce of soda; roll thir\, 
cut in small cakes and bake in a hot oven. 

Cheap Honey Tea-Cake. — One teacup of extracted honey, 
one-half teacup of thick, sour cream, two eggs, one-half teacup 
of butter, two cups flour, scant half-teaspoon of soda, one tea- 
spoon of cream of tartar; flavor to taste. 

Honey Ginger-Cake. — Three cups of flour, one and one- 
half cups of butter; rub well together,, then add one cup brown 
sugar, two large tablespoonfuls of ginger, and if you like, the 
same amount of caraway seed; five eggs, two cups of. extracted 
honey and three teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Beat it well, 
and bake in a square, iron pan one hour or more. 

Honey-Cakes. — Four cups extracted honey, one cup butter, 
two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder, and flour added by degrees, 
to make a stiff paste; work well together, roll out half an inch 
thick, cut into cakes and bake in a quick oven. See that they 
do not burn. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 183 

Honey-Paste.— One cup honey, three-fourths cup white or 
yellow wax, one cup lard; melt together, then take it off the 
fire and stir till cool; perfume with rose or violet, and keep in 
cups, well protected from the air. For keeping the hands from 
- chapping, rub on a little, after dipping them lightly into water. 
It softens them after hard work. 

Butter Honey-Cake. — All pronounce this cake excellent: 
One pint of flour, one tablespoonful of butter, one teaspoonful 
of soda, two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar,and honey sufficient 
to make a thick batter; spread about an inch thick, and bake in 
a hot oven. 

Honey Sponge-Cake— Two-thirds of a breakfast cup of 
sour cream, three cupfuls of flour, an even teaspoonful of soda, 
one cup of butter, three eggs, one and one-quarter pounds of 
honey, one tablespoonful of cinnamon, one-half teaspoonful of 
allspice, and a little extract of lemon; mix the spices with the 
flour; put the soda in the milk and stir well, that all the ingre- 
dients may thoroughly mix; beat the cake well for another five 
minutes; put it in a buttered tin — bake from one-half to three- 
quarters of an hour. This is nice eaten warm. 

Ginger Honey-Cake. — Take one and three-quarter pounds 
of honey, one-quarter pound of butter, one and one-half pounds 
of flour, one ounce of ginger, one-half ounce of ground all- 
spice, one teaspoonful of carbonate of soda, one-quarter of a 
pint of sour milk, cream if you choose, three eggs; put the flour 
into a basin with the ginger and allspice; mix these together, 
warm the butter and add it with the honey to the other ingre- 
dients; stir well; make the milk just warm and dissolve the 
soda in it, and make the whole into a nice, smooth paste with 
the eggs which should be previously well whisked; pour the 
mixture in to a buttered tin — bake it from three-quarters to 
one hour; take the white of one egg and beat it up with a little 
sweet milk and take a feather and brush the top; this will give 
it a glossy appearance. This cake can be baked in two equal 
pie tins. 

Honey-Cookies. — One pint honey; one-half cup butter; 
one cup sweet milk; two eggs; one-half of a grated nutmeg. 
Beat the eggs and honey together until they froth, then add 
the butter and milk; use yeast powder with the flour. 

Cooking Green Fruit. — If mellow, use only extracted honey; 
it being the only liquid, it holds the fruit firm and gives a 
very rich flavor; sweeten or season with spices, to suit the 
taste. Cook slowly until done. 

Cooking Dried Fruit. — Cook same as above, only add water 
enough to swell the fruit, after which add the extracted honey 
and spices, to suit the taste. Cook slowly until done. 

Preserves. — Fruit may be preserved with honey by putting 
the fruit first in the can, then pouring honey over it, and seal 
air-tight; when the honey is poured from the fruit it will have 
the flavor and appearance of jelly, making a delicious dessert. • 

Preserving Fruit.— Extracted honey, instead _ of sugar, is 
superior in every way for preserving fruit. It is not apt to 
sour and require a second boiling. Pick the fruit, wash it and 



1 84 bees and honey; or 

drain off the water; then place it in a large kettle or pan and 
add one-third as much honey as there is fruit, boiling it until 
the taste of the honey has evaporated. 

Honey Pop-Corn Balls. — Take one pint of extracted honey, 
put in an iron frying-pan, and boil until very thick, then stir 
in freshly-parched corn, and when cool mold into balls. These 
will especially delight the children. 

Honey is largely used in the manufacture of honey choco- 
late creams and honey chocolate-tablets. There is a delicious 
taste of the honey in these articles, but they are so judiciously 
blended with the other materials that they are not too sweet. 

Honey is also now generally used by the confectioners in 
the place of sugar in many kinds of lozenges, cough drops and 
other sweet-meats. Glycerine and honey jujubes for the throat; 
corn and honey food; herbal tablets, etc., are only a few of the 
many things which might be mentioned. In the toilet, it is 
used in soap and dentifrice. 

There are many persons who are not allowed to use sugar 
at all; to these honey comes as a boon. It is a curious thing 
to note that even the angler now uses honey, and natural 
honey fish-bait is put down in the list of necessaries for the 
modern complete angler. 

The masses do not realize the value of honey from a hy- 
gienic standpoint, else it would have more than kept pace with 
sugar as an article of human consumption. 

Pure honey should always be freely used in every family. 



Honey-Vinegar 

Two pounds of honey with enough water to make a gallon 
should be first heated to kill any foreign germs of fermenta- 
tion. Then add some fruit-juice or a little malt-yeast, to start 
the alcoholic fermentation which must precede the acetic. 
Keep in a warm place, until thoroughly fermented. Then add 
a little vinegar or vinegar "mother." The vinegar will soon 
become strong. Air is needed, so the vessel must not be 
bunged, but simply covered with a cloth, to keep away flies. 

Should you have honey-water, made from washing ex- 
tractor-cappings or otherwise, of which you do not know the 
strength in honey, float an egg in it. The egg should come to 
the surface, showing a spot of about the size of a dime above 
the water. If it rises more, add water; if less, add honey. 
Good vinegar can be made in a few weeks if properly handled, 
but it will gain strength for a year or two. 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 185 

General Values and Importance of Honey 

(Why not have this article printed in your local newspaper?) 

Honey, like many another excellent thing to eat, is really 
unfamiliar to most people. If an idea is held at all concern- 
ing honey, it is more likely to be erroneous than correct. If 
we should search for the main cause of the prevailing ignorance 
about the various things we humans put through our digestive 
apparatus three times a day — that is, three times a day where 
we can "raise the price" to do so — we should likely find it in 
our great haste to get ahead, to make a few more Almighty 
Dollars, rather than to spend a few hours in considering so 
important a topic as that of the "fuel" we use to run the "en- 
gine" within us, which generates the energy that is needed 
to run all our powers of body and mind. 

And so, I feel that we do well to look carefully and crit- 
ically at honey, which belongs to the class of sweets so greatly 
craved by the human system. It is one, too, that is found in a 
natural state — perhaps the only real sweet that has not in any 
way been made or affected by man. In these latter days, so 
crowded with multitudinous results of sophistication and mis- 
representation in food products, it is a relief to know that there 
is at least one article in all the list that can be secured in all 
its purity and health-giving qualities, unaffected by the crafty 
manipulations of man. 

I refer, first, to honey in the comb. Most people are familiar 
with the story that has oft been repeated, that this most deli- 
cious product of the hive is made by the ingenuity of man. 
That statement is untrue, and he who says to the contrary is a 
repeater of a falsehood, whether wittingly or not. 

The original appearance of the claim that comb honey 
was manufactured, was in the Popular Science Monthly for 
June, 1881, in these words: 

"In commercial honey which is entirely free from bee- 
mediation, the comb is made of paraffine and filled with pure 
glucose by appropriate machinery." 

When the author of this "American Knight's Fable, "was 
pressed for proof of his untruthful statement, he said it was 
intended as a "scientific pleasantry;" and, further, that he did 
not think it would be taken seriously! But many have believed 
it for more than a quarter of a century, and others will con- 
tinue to believe the old falsehood to the end of time, to the 



186 BEES and honey; or 

irreparable harm of an honest and honorable industry, and to 
the deprivation of millions of people from partaking of the 
best and richest God-given food known to man. 

There have been various definitions of honey, any one of 
which perhaps is fairly satisfactory, although the following by 
Dr. E. N. Eaton, former State Analyst of the Illinois Food 
Commission, covers the ground well, as it refers specifically 
to the honey of commerce, which is really all that need be 
considered just now: 

"Commercial honey is the nectar of flowers or similar 
saccharine secretions or exudations gathered from natural 
sources by the honey-bee, transformed and stored in a comb 
composed exclusively of beeswax." 

In the Bible as well as other books of antiquity, honey is 
frequently mentioned as a food article, giving it the prestige 
of being one of the first foods known to man. 

It was also a thing of commerce, and evidently one of the 
two very important productions of the Land of Canaan, which is 
frequently referred to as a "land flowing with milk and honey." 
This probably placed honey on a par with the dairy interests 
of Canaan. It is thus in keeping that honey should be 
considered in connection with products of the dairy. So far 
as we know, the nearest the ancients came to the bee-hive of 
the present day was the carcass of a lion, which contained 
within its ribbed sides a colony of bees and their honey. 

Previous to 1851 bees were kept either in circular hives 
composed of straw twisted and arranged in pyramidal form, 
or in hollow logs or variously shaped boxes with one or 
two wooden sticks crossed within, for fastening the combs of 
honey. It was then thought necessary to asphyxiate with burn- 
ing brimstone each fall in order to get their honey product. 
This, of course, was rather severe upon the bees themselves, 
and was not conducive to the palatableness of the honey. 
However, it seemed to be the best that could be done in those 
"dark ages" of the apicultural world. 

As noted, in 1851, the modern development of bee-keeping 
began in earnest. Rev. L. L. Langstroth invented in that year 
the movable frame, which has since completely revolutionized 
the keeping of bees. With this frame, which holds each honey- 
comb separately in the hive, it is possible to investigate the 
internal economies of the' home of the bees, and thus reveal 
what previously was considered its hidden mysteries. It was 
possible, by thus being able to "dissect" a colony of bees, to 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 1 87 

find the queen and to learn all about her movements and her 
very important work in connection with the colony. It also 
permitted the easy increase of colonies by taking one or more 




GEORGE W. YORK 

Editor of the "American Bee Journal" and President of the "National" 
and of the "Chicago-Northwestern" Bee-Keepers' Associations. 

frames containing honey, the bees, larvae, etc., for the forma- 
tion of a separate colony, either to rear its own queen or to 
allow the introduction of a queen purchased and sent even 



l88 BEES and honey; OR 

from sunny Italy; for be it known that the Italian bees have 
been the leading variety for the production of honey in this 
country for nearly half a century, and today they perhaps have 
few equals and no superiors. 

. Since the invention and almost universal adoption of 
the Langstroth frame, or its modifications, the keeping of 
bees has developed into a busines that frequently is quite 
profitable. There are coming to be a number of persons who 
are making a specialty of honey-production. Their colonies 
number as many as 3,000, being kept in locations, or yards, 
several miles apart, each yard having from 200 to 300 colo- 
nies. These are carefully manipulated and cared for during 
the nectar-yielding season. In 1903, one California bee-keep- 
er's honey-product was 112,000 pounds, about four-fifths of it 
being in the extracted form. According to the census, there 
are something like 700,000 bee-keepers in the United States, 
and the total estimated annual products of the hive are as 
follows: Comb honey, 50,000,000 pounds; extracted (liquid or 
free from the comb) honey, 100,000,000 pounds; and bees- 
wax, 1,000,000 pounds. The total cash value would be about 
$22,000,000 — not so small an affair as might be suggested by 
the size of the little bee; but it is always referred to as the 
busy little bee, hence the respectable volume of its "busi-ness." 

The honey of commerce today, as just mentioned, is of 
two kinds — that in the comb, and that out of the comb, or 
known as "extracted honey." The former is mainly produced 
in small square or rectangular frames averaging perhaps one 
pound each, although the amount is likely to vary from 12 
ounces to 16 or 17 ounces each. 

Extracted honey is first produced in the comb form in 
larger frames, perhaps the majority in use being about 9x18 
inches in size. After being filled by the bees in the hive, they 
are removed singly, the bees brushed or shaken off, and then 
with a knife long enough to extend across the short way of 
the comb, the cappings are shaved off on both sides of the 
comb, which then is put into a machine called a honey- 
extractor, illustrated on another page of this book. This is 
usually a metal can perhaps three feet high and two feet in 
diameter, containing two or more wire-cloth comb-baskets, 
each of which holds a comb of honey rather loosely. The 
comb-baskets are so aranged that, with suitable gearing, they 
can be revolved rapidly within the can, and thus by centrif- 
ugal force, the honey in the combs is thrown against the in- 
side of the can and afterwards drawn off through a faucet at 



FIRST LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING 189 

the bottom. When one side of the combs is freed from the 
sweet liquid, they are reversed so that the honey in the other 
side can also be thrown out or "extracted." After being en- 
tirely freed of honey, the empty combs are replaced in the 
hives for the bees to refill, thus saving them an enormous 
amount of labor by not being compelled to rebuild the comb. 
They simply fill the cells again with the nectar of the flowers, 
evaporate it, and seal it over, when it is ready for another 
"whirl" in the honey-extractor. 

Honey is both a food and a medicine, but it may be well 
to remember that the more regularly honey is used as a food, 
the less of it will be needed as a medicine, or its medicinal 
effects will thus be secured. While it is an unsurpassed food, 
it contains so many medicinal qualities that its value to human 
sustenance and health can not be over-estimated. In view of 
its high nourishing qualities, I would urge the more general 
use of honey as a daily food. It can be procured in sufficient 
quantities in its natural purity and at reasonable prices. The 
adulteration of honey, which in the extracted or liquid form 
is so easy to accomplish, is rapidly disappearing, through the 
more general enforcement of wholesome pure food laws, thanks 
to that incorruptible and efficient servant of the people, Mr. 
H. W. Wiley, chief chemist of the Government of the United 
States. May the good work go on until every adulteration is 
driven from the open market! Laws should be enacted so 
drastic in their effect when generally enforced as to make the 
sale of adulterated foods not only unprofitable, but utterly im- 
possible. I know that honey-producers everywhere will be 
glad to co-operate in any and every possible way that will 
result in placing upon the American markets only such foods 
as are absolutely pure and wholesome. Once drive the illegiti- 
mate and harmful kinds from the market, and the unadul- 
terated, truly nutritious, and health-giving foods will have a 
wonderfully increased demand, and the people will soon show 
the good effect through increased physical powers and clearer 
intellects. We Americans like good things to eat, and we are 
willing to pay for them; but we want the assurance of abso- 
lute purity when purchasing that which is not only to sustain 
our lives, but is to keep us healthy and happy. When that 
day of universal purity in marketable- food products arrives, 
honey, among countless other good things, will resume its 
rightful place in the kitchens and upon the tables of both rich 
and poor alike. George W. York. 

Chicago, Illinois, September 1, 1911. 



Advanced Bee-Culture.— A new edition of this book by the late 
W. Z. Hutchinson, of Michigan, is one of the most practical and up-to-date bee- 
books for the specialist bee-keeper ever written. Its 200 pages touch on nearly 
500 subjects pertaining to modern bee-keeping, and all are discussed with the 
authority of an expert. The book has many beautiful illustrations. It is cloth- 
bound, with a clover design in natural colors on its cover. It is a volume whose 
appearance and unquestionable worth justly entitles it to a place in the library 
of every successful bee-keeper. No more important work on the subject has 
appeared. Price postpaid, $1.00; or with the American Bee Journal 1 year — 
both for $1.75. 

Scientific Queen-Rearing. — This is practically the only complete 
book on queen-rearing now in print. It is looked upon by many as the founda- 
tion of modern methods of rearing queens in a wholesale way. G. M. Doolittle, 
its author, has an entertaining way of writing on bee-subjects which helps his 
readers to follow him with pleasure even if they never intend to rear queens at 
all. He describes just how the best queens oan be reared in Nature's way. Cloth- 
bound ; 124 pages; 75 cents, postpaid; or with the American Bee Journal 1 year — 
both for $1.50. There is also a leatherette-bound edition of the same book which 
retails at 50 cents, or with the American Bee Journal a year — both for $1.25. 

A B C & X Y Z of Bee-Culture. — This is really an encyclopedia of 
bee-keeping, written by A. I. and E. R. Root. It is the most complete of any 
bee-book that has ever been written in the English language. It has had a sale 
of nearly 150,000 copies. It is also published in the French and German lan- 
guages. It has over 500 large pages, and is handsomely bound in cloth. It is 
revised nearly every year, and thus kept up to date. It aims to cover the needs 
of the amateur as well as the professional bee-keeper. It contains a complete 
dictionary of apicultural terms, and a picture-gallery comprising a list of the 
choicest illustrations of beedom. English edition, price, postpaid, $1.50; or 
with the American Bee Journal 1 year — both for $2.25. 

A Year's Work in an Out-Apiary.— This is a booklet by G. M. 
Doolittle, the well-known honey-producer of New York State. He tells how he 
secured an average of 114^2 pounds of honey per colony in a poor season. It 
is fully illustrated, and tells in detail just how Mr. Doolittle has won his great 
success as a honey-producer. Price, 50 cents postpaid; or with the American 
Bee Journal 1 year — both for $1.30. Every bee-keeper should have a copy of 
this booklet and study it thoroughly. 

Bee-Keeping by 20th Century Methods. — This is a booklet by J. E. 
Hand which gives his method of controlling swarms, and also the production of 
honev While it is written particularly to describe Mr. Hand's methods of con- 
trolling swarms by means of a new patented bottom-board, the booklet contains 
a great deal of other valuable matter, on the best hive to adopt, re-queening, 
American foul brood, wintering bees, out-apiaries, feeding and feeders, section 
honev pure comb honey, convenience in the apiary, producing a fancy article 
of extracted honey, swarm prevention by re-queening, increasing colonies etc. 
Price, postpaid! 5 c i cents ; or with the American Bee Journal 1 year-both for 

3 °Pearce Method of Bee-Keeping.— This is an illustrated booklet 
exolaining the keeping of bees successfully in upper-rooms, and house attics or 
lofts whfreby any one, either in city or country, is enabled with on y a small 

«in^irJ nf labor to get .a lot of honey without coming in contact with the 
wTanrwithourLv°nfthe bees swarm and leave or being troubled from 
bees, ana wunou c 11 s rcial bee-keeper how he can divide his colonies 

St ^?-h, dfs res Lead oThavrng them swarm. The methods are all fully 
explained. Price, 50 cents for witlfthe American Bee Journal 1 year-both for 
$1.30. 

ABOVE FOR SALE BY 

American Bee Journal, 177 N. Jefferson St., Chicago, Ills, 



W1 



##re>fckM>E«^ 



The Classic in Bee-Culture 

CLOTH-BOUND : PRICE, BY MAIL, $1.20 

Revised 

by 

Dadant 

Latest 
Edition 




575 Pages 



212 Engravings 



ORDER OF YOUR DEALER 

or of 

DADANT & SONS, 

Hamilton, - Illinois 



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One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



OCT 28 19U 



Langstroth on the Honey-Bee. — This is one of the standard books 
on bees. It tells in a simple, concise manner just how to keep bees. It was 
originally written by Rev. L. L. Langstroth, the inventor of the movable-frame 
hive in 1851. The book has been brought right down to date by those expert 
bee-keepers — Dadant & Sons — than whom there are no better nor more practical 
bee-keepers in this or any other country. The book contains nearly 600 pages. 
It is fully illustrated, and bound in cloth. Every topic is clearly and thoroughly 
explained so that by following its instructions no one should fail to be successful 
with bees. Price, postpaid, $1.20; or with the American Bee Journal 1 year — » 
both for $2.00. 

Bee-Keepers' Guide. — This book . on bees is also known as the 
"Manual of the Apiary." It is instructive and interesting, as well as practically 
scientific. On the anatomy and physiology of the bee, it is more complete than 
any other standard American bee-book. Also the part on honey-producing plants 
is exceptionally fine. Every bee-keeper should have this book in his library. It 
has 544 pages and 295 illustrations. Bound in cloth. Price, postpaid, $1.20; or 
with a year's subscription to the American Bee Journal — both for $1.90. 

Fifty Years Among the Bees. — This is another standard book of 
something like 350 pages, and over 100 illustrations. Its author, Dr. C. C. Miller, 
is a specialist bee-keeper with an experience of over 50 years. He has read not 
only all of the literature on bees published in this country, but much of that 
published in Europe, and is everywhere considered as a high authority on the 
subject. It tells in detail how Dr. Miller keeps bees. Bound in cloth. Price, 
postpaid, $1.00; or with a year's subscription to the American Bee Journal — both 
for $1.75. 

The Honey-Money Stories. — This is a 64-page and cover booklet 
printed on enameled paper. It contains a variety of short, bright stories, mixed 
with facts and interesting items about honey and its use. It has 31 half-tone 
pictures, mostly of apiaries or apiarian scenes. Also three bee-songs, namely : 
"The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom," "Buckwheat Cakes and Honey," 
and "The Bee-Keeper's Lullaby." This booklet ought to be especially in the 
hands of every one not familiar with the food-value of honey. Its object is 
to create a larger demand for honey. Price, postpaid, 25 cents ; or with the 
American Bee Journal 1 year— both for $1.10. 

Southern Bee-Culture. — This is a booklet written by J. J. Wilder, 
perhaps the most extensive bee-keeper and honey-producer in the State of Geor- 
gia. It is a real hand-book of Southern bee-keeping, with methods so simply 
described that they are easy to carry out. Every bee-keeper, especially in the 
South, should have a copy of Mr. Wilder's booklet. He conducts apiaries by 
the dozen, and produces many tons of honey every season. He tells in a care- 
ful way just how he does it. The price of this booklet is 50 cents; or with the 
American Bee Journal 1 year — both for $1.30. 

Amerikanische Bienenzucht. — This is a bee-keepers' hand-book _ of 
138 pages in the German language, written by Hans Buschbauer. It is just 
what German bee-keepers will want. It is fully illustrated, and bound in cloth. 
Price, postapaid, $1.00; or with the American Bee Journal 1 year — both for $1.75- 

Souvenir Bee-Postal Cards. — We have 4 souvenir bee-postal cards 
of interest to bee-keepers. No. 1 is a Teddy Bear card with two lines of poetry, 
and pictures of a straw hive, a jar and section of honey, etc., in colors; No. 2 
has the words and music of the song, "The Bee-Keeper's Lullaby;" No. 3, the 
words and music of "Buckwheat Ca^es and Honey ;" and No. 4, the words and 
music of "The Humming of the Bees." These cards are sent, postpaid, as fol- 
lows : 4 cards for 10 cents; 12 cards for 20 cents; or 15 cards with a year's 
subscription to the American Bee Journal — both for $1.10. 

Celluloid Queen-Buttons. — These are very pretty for bee-keepers 
or honey-sellers to wear on their coat-lapels. They often serve to introduce the 
subject of honey, and quite frequently lead to a sale. The button shows a pic- 
ture of a queen-bee, and around the edge of the button are the words, "Our 
Toil Doth Sweeten Others." It has a pin on the underside to fasten it. Prices, 
postpaid — 1 button for 6 cents; 2 for 10 cents; or 6 for 25 cents. 

ABOVE FOR SALE BY 

American Bee Journal, 117 N. Jefferson St., Chicago, Ills. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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